Oncology

The expanding arsenal of targeted and immuno-oncology drugs has unalterably changed the landscape of systemic cancer treatment, but chemotherapy will remain critical for years if not decades to come.

A pair of study abstracts presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, supported the efficacy of entrectinib among 2 different groups of patients, including patients with a rare form of lung cancer and pediatric and adolescent patients with solid tumors.

The Oncology Care Model (OCM) is pushing cancer centers and cancer programs to make the changes they knew were needed to improve care delivery and patient experiences, said David Ortiz, OCM program director at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care.

There has been much speculation about the end of chemotherapy in cancer treatment, but it’s not clear how accurate that is, said Bruce Feinberg, DO, vice president and chief medical officer of Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions.

Though chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has been largely touted as one of the most important advances in cancer care in recent years, the therapy comes with the risk of severe toxicities as well as increased financial burden due to the high cost of the drugs.

Outlining a set of issues that need to be addressed under the Oncology Care Model (OCM), the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) is urging the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation to delay the October 2019 deadline for practices to transition to 2-sided risk under the model.

“How do you currently collaborate with your primary care colleagues in caring for patients with cancer?” This was how Larissa Nekhlyudov, MD, MPH, opened a session titled “Bringing the Primary Care Physician Back Into Cancer Care,” during the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Annual Meeting, held in Chicago, Illinois from May 31-June 4, 2019.

This is part 3 of a 3-part vaccine series covering the potential of vaccines for infectious diseases, the impact of the antivaccination movement, and the promise of vaccines for cancer treatment. Read part 1 and part 2.

In the first of a series of interviews with key opinion leaders (KOLs), Amy Ellis, director of quality and value-based care at Northwest Medical Specialties, discusses practice transformation with Jess Quiring, a patient navigator at New Mexico Cancer Center.

The median lag time from first-in-human to first-in-child trials of oncology drugs that were ultimately approved by FDA is 6.5 years.

The long time between when a performance period ends and when the report comes out in the Oncology Care Model (OCM) can make it difficult to measure the impact specific changes are making, said David Ortiz, OCM program director at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care.

Patients with primary care appointments in the morning were more likely to have orders for and receive recommended breast and colorectal cancer screenings.

Outcomes for patients with cancer are continuously improving, but the increasingly complex healthcare system, new payment and delivery models that place more risk on practices, and rising costs of therapies has made it difficult for independent oncology practices to thrive and survive. However, independent practices present an important part of cancer care, delivering care to patients who are not near large hospital-based systems at lower costs.

This study explores the causes of emotionally adverse patient experiences in cancer care and presents a taxonomy for analyzing free-text patient data.

Patients with cancer who receive high doses of bisphosphonates, used to treat bone cancer, can experience jaw damage. New preclinical research published in Bone Science Direct could prevent these patients from experiencing this loss of jawbone tissue after routine oral surgery.

Patients who adhere to a CancerIQ cancer prevention plan, or cancer survivorship plan, are more likely to catch a cancer before it grows beyond 1 centimeter, says Feyi Olopade Ayodele, MBA, chief executive officer at CancerIQ.