Oncology

Emergency care providers vary in their understanding of a type of medical order intended to communicate seriously ill patients' choices for life-sustaining treatments, according to a pair of studies recently published.

The American Journal of Managed Care convened a discussion of 2 leading clinicians and 2 medical directors for leading payers, all of whom saw some merit in FDA's plans to bring oversight to the diagnostic testing market. The strongest advocate for greater FDA oversight was Daniel F. Hayes, MD, clinical director of the Breast Oncology Program at the University of Michigan, who will be a future president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Ten oncology practices around the nation will initiate their accreditation process this year, which includes an on-site survey bu the Commission on Cancer.

NICE's first guideline on bladder cancer aims to improve the diagnosis and management of the seventh most common cancer in the UK.

The goals of the new CMS Oncology Care Model align very nicely with what payers want, according to Ira M. Klein, MD, MBA, FACP, national medical director, clinical thought leadership, office of the chief medical officer, Aetna.

Following the introduction of adaptive clinical trials, cancer researchers are now working on another revolutionary model, and they have the FDA's support in this effort. Named basket studies because they group different cancers together based on the driver mutation rather than the tumor of origin, these trials do not use the standard treatment as a control group, but look for a "Yes" or "No" response.

Project to research better way to treat neutropenia is 1 of 5 to get latest funding from Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

The governing body for public health in the UK, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, has refused to fund Provenge citing a high-price for the benefit the tretament provides. This may not be the best news for Valeant Pharmaceuticals which recently bought the regimen from the bankrupt Dendreon Corp.

A study published in the journal Cancer provides insights that may help physicians understand patients' preferences regarding their care, which may be crucial for optimizing patient participation in treatment decisions.

The study, conducted in 2 separate patient cohorts at St. Jude Children's Hospital and the Children's Oncology Group and published in the The Journal of the American Medical Association, found that children with gene variants in the CEP72 gene were more sensitive to vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy.

Interim analysis of a clinical trial evaluating adjuvant sorafenib, sunitinib or placebo in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma found the recurrence rates and the disease-free survival were similar between all three treatment regimens.

Study results showed participants receiving Farydak with bortezomib and dexamethasone saw a progression-free survival for about 10.6 months,compared to 5.8 months in participants treated with bortezomib and dexamethasone alone.

"The growth of ORIEN coincides with President Obama's announcement and the recognition that molecularly targeted medicine holds tremendous promise for all disease, particularly cancer," said Michael Caligiuri, MD, director of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and CEO of the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.

The deals, with Flexus and Rigel, will add another molecule to the company's immunotherapy pipeline and also provide access to a TGF-beta receptor inhibitor to be used in combination with Yervoy and Opdivo.

The TAS-102 RECOURSE trial met the primary efficacy endpoint of statistically significant improvement in overall survival versus placebo, and the results of the trial form the basis of the NDA.

At the 26th International Congress on Anti-Cancer Treatment in Paris, France, earlier this month, oncologists deliberated on the current understanding of metastatic colorectal cancer and the available treatment options. Recent work has shown that there are 4 or 5 different subtypes of the disease, which may call for personalized therapeutic strategies.

A one-minute look at managed care news during the week of February 16, 2015, including extended open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act and shared decision-making for cancer treatments.

After the FDA approved lenalidomide for use in chemotherapy-naive multiple myeloma (MM) patients, the European Commission has followed suit. Revlimid was approved today by EC in MM patients, previously untreated and transplant-ineligible.

The study, conducted at the Columbia University School of Nursing, found that mobile apps with decision support features resulted in significantly higher diagnosis rates than apps with only bare-bones tools for recording results from a patient exam.

The study evaluated SEER data of over 37,000 prostate cancer patients and found an overwhelming majority of patients (58%) received radiation treatment regardless of overall disease prognosis. The lead study author hopes these findings enlighten the public and allow physicians to make an informed decision when it comes to the best treatment option for men who may or may not benefit from radiation therapy in the long run.

Developed by the company 23andMe, the test identifies carriers of a gene mutation that could determine the susceptibility of a person's offspring to Bloom Syndrome.

Published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, the authors show that a fourth and subsequent follow-up PET/CT scan in lung cancer patients was associated with treatment change.

Research scientists at the Macquarie University and Concord Repatriation General Hospital in Australia have discovered that expression of the cell surface protein uPAR can predict survival after colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery. The study found that patients expressing uPAR may have undetectable cancer metastasis and dramatically poorer survival.

Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the multinational study found that Gardasil 9, 100% effective against 9 strains of HPV, can prevent the occurrence of 85%-90% of HPV-related cancers.

On February 16, after living with metastatic breast cancer, Phyllis Torda, 63, vice president of the Quality Solutions Group at the National Committee for Quality Assurance, passed away.