Oncology

The conclusion drawn by panelists participating at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s Oncology Policy Summit on Redefining Quality Measurement in Oncology was that ensuring access to appropriate data and using that information to improve healthcare outcomes remains an ongoing challenge.

Speaking at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Oncology Policy Summit on Redefining Quality Measurement in Oncology, Ronald Walters, MD, MBA, MHA, MS, associate vice president of medical operations and informatics at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, emphasized the need to focus on the patient’s preferences and values in cancer care delivery.

An analysis of behaviors, community environment, policy, clinical care, and outcomes data has found a disturbing trend in mortality in the United States, with premature deaths, drug deaths, and cardiovascular deaths all increasing.

The FDA has recognized the need to include the patient's voice in the drug development process. The question is: what is the best way to do this?

The FDA has announced its launch of the “Every Try Counts” campaign, which will encourage smokers to quit by advertising messages of support underscoring the health benefits of quitting. The campaign will also focus on celebrating each quit attempt as a step towards success.

There is no shortage of academic, industry, and government sources that identify value as equaling cost/outcomes; there is far less uniformity of opinion when it comes to defining what that means for a particular patient affected by cancer.

New companies are finding patients for clinical trials in remote locations and trimming months off the enrollment process.

Stephen Schuster, MD, of the Perelman School of Medicine, provides a summary of results seen with CAR T treatments in leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.

Including the modified brentuximab antibody in the treatment regimen improved modified progression-free survival by 5%, although the rates of neutropenia and infections were higher in patients administered the brentuximab-containing regimen.

Adolescents and young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) tend to have worse outcomes than children with ALL, and new research published at the 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting delved into the reasons why, explained Julie A. Wolfson, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine.

Right now is a critical time for the healthcare industry to evaluate how patients are financially burdened by novel treatments that can provide tremendous outcomes, said Joshua R. Richter, MD, of the John Theurer Cancer Center.

The need for physicicans to gather information for electronic health records has changed the nature of the patient visit.

A much-anticipated session on the second day of the 59th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Society of Hematology provided long-term updates on trials evaluating 2 chimeric antigen receptor-T (CAR T) treatments: tisagenlecleucel or CTL019 (Kymriah) for the treatment of adult relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta) evaluated in patients with refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Findings from 3 analyses published in CANCER highlight racial disparities in the survival of patients with ovarian, colon, and breast cancer from 2001-2003 and 2004-2009.

Clonal hematopoiesis and selection pressures associated with aging can together lead to the development of neoplasms. Two hematologists presented US and European updates on the potential to develop a predictive model, and an appropriate intervention, in these individuals.

Two abstracts at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in Atlanta, Georgia found that CTL019 shows promising potential in providing significant benefit and cost effectiveness for pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Physician belief in the art of medicine is running up against the challenge of costs being shifted to patients and health systems and the desire of payers to have less variation in care, said Derek Raghavan, MD, PhD, FACP, FRACP, president, Carolinas HealthCare System's Levine Cancer Institute.

Ibrutinib has the potential to improve vaccine response for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and an ongoing trial will help provide a better understanding, explained Kerry Rogers, MD, assistant professor, internal medicine, Division of Hematology, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Three studies presented at the ongoing 59th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Society of Hematology in Atlanta, Georgia, shared progress on the oral Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor, ibrutinib, in the treatment of relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and as a single agent in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

During a session on the first day of the 59th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Society of Hematology in Atlanta, Georgia, physicians shared current knowledge on cardiovascular toxicities of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) as well as the potential for treatment-free remission with these agents.

A University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center research team studying new drugs that could break resistance to cancer immunotherapy has received a 3-year, $600,000 translational grant from the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

This week, the top managed care stories included CVS' proposal to purchase Aetna, which could reshape healthcare; a new study that looks at who is dying in hospitals from opioid use; and CMS reported that healthcare spending grew more slowly in 2016.

Novartis announced that Phase III MONALEESA-7 trial results showed that the combination of ribociclib with an endocrine therapy (tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor) and goserelin yielded significant progression-free survival when compared with endocrine therapy and goserelin alone.

WIth different societies and organizations releasing contrary guidelines around breast cancer screening, experience with past patients or friends and family members could influence physicians' decisions around when to start screening mammography.

A Samfund grant recipient narrates her experience of being diagnosed young with cancer and how the support from The Samfund "made everyday school and life manageable."