Oncology

Harold Varmus, MD, who has led the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health for nearly 5 years, announced today that he will step down from his post, effective March 31, 2015.

AbbVie will spend about $21 billion to buy leukemia drugmaker Pharmacyclics in its first major deal attempt since walking away from a $55 billion takeover of Shire last fall.

The FDA announced today that it has approved Opdivo (nivolumab) for use in NSCLC patients who have progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy.

Brain tumor patients who are uninsured or use Medicaid stay hospitalized longer and develop more medical complications than those with private insurance, University of Florida Health researchers have found.

While the pharmaceutical industry has always justified the billions spent on developing a candidate drug molecule, the process has definitely seen some important changes. This article evaluates whether these revolutionary changes have influenced drug development for the better.

The technique, L-COSY, monitors biochemical changes in tissue and could improve the management of women at risk of breast cancer, such as those carrying mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2.

The study in Health Affairs published by Samir Soneji, PhD, an assistant professor at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, found that despite a sharp rise in healthcare spending,caner mortality rates are very high in the US compared to Western Europe.

The use of adjuvant systemic therapy for localized gastrointestinal stromal tumors has significantly increased over time, a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Oncology, has found, and patients treated with the therapy have better survival than those treated with surgery alone, researchers say.

The study found that following Genetech's decision to restrict the distribution of it's 3 popular cancer medications through specific specialty distributors, patient access to the drugs has reduced while costs have increased.

Results released by Amgen, who bought the molecule from Onyx, show that Kyprolis yielded better results when used as second-line in relapsed patients.

The Thyroid Cancer Clinical Registry is expected to improve quality of patient care as patient data would be readily available to all physicians involved in the patients care; however former Commission on Cancer chair Frederick L Greene, MD, wonders whether physicians would take the time to enter the clinical data into the system as required.

A simple urine test could help to guide clinicians in the treatment of bladder cancer patients, researchers believe. Being able to reliably identify those patients with the most aggressive cancers early via urine tests, and expediting aggressive therapeutic strategies, may significantly improve outcomes, they say.

BMS announced in a press release today that Opdivo (nivolumab), approved for advanced melanoma, has received priority review from the FDA for treating patients with advanced NSCLC.

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.