Interviews

Elli Papaemmanuil, PhD, assistant professor in computational oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, spoke on current methods of classification and stratification for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and the applicability of a novel scoring system, presented during her plenary session at EHA2022, that aims to improve and refine MDS risk estimation.

John Mascarenhas, MD, director of the Adult Leukemia Program at The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai, spoke on preliminary data findings of the phase 2 MANIFEST study investigating the efficacy and safety profile of pelabresib, ruxolitinib combination therapy in JAK inhibitor-naive patients with myelofibrosis and those with suboptimal response to ruxolitinib monotherapy.

Mandy Lauw, MD, PhD, physician scientist and chair of the YoungEHA committee, discussed the content presented at the YoungEHA Research Meeting at the 2022 European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress and core themes of the session she cochaired on the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) and science in hematology.

Swaminathan P. Iyer, MD, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, explains the mechanism of action and efficacy/safety observed in phase 1 results of CTX130, a CD70-targeted allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, in the treatment of relapsed/refractory T-cell lymphoma.

Amanda Ely is CEO of the Children’s HIV Association (CHIVA), an organization that provides support to children living with HIV in the United Kingdom and Ireland and their families.

Designing rational spending targets and having small sample sizes are 2 main challenges payers and partners face in the shift toward alternative payment models (APMs), said Ravi B. Parikh, MD, MPP, assistant professor of medical ethics and health policy, assistant professor of medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

Constantine S. Tam, MBBS, MD, consulting hematologist and associate professor, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, explains findings of his abstract at EHA2022 showing the impact of Australia’s pharmaceuticals benefit scheme on the rise of Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor prescriptions for the treatment of relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (R/R CLL), as well as reasons behind the decrease in fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab combination therapy usage for first-line CLL.

Providing insurance coverage for multicancer early detection (MCED) tests is vital to reduce disparities in access, said Patricia Deverka, MD, MS, senior researcher, deputy director at the Center for Translational and Policy Research and Precision Medicine, University of California San Francisco.

Mazyar Shadman, MD, MPH, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington, discussed positive health-related quality of life (HRQOL) findings of the SEQUOIA trial investigating zanubrutinib vs bendamustine/rituximab in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL).

Many socioeconomic factors, such as neighborhood factors, access to care, and education can influence sleep, explained Cinthya Pena Orbea, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Cleveland Clinic.

Ashok Subramanian, MBA, founder and chief executive officer, Centivo, speaks on the limitations of traditional employer-based health benefit plans in the pursuit of value-based care and what employers should consider in designing these incentives on a community level.

Once-nightly sodium oxybate was associated with a statistically significant reduction in cataplexy episodes among patients with narcolepsy, explained Michael Thorpy, MD, director of the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Medical Center and professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Moving chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies outside of the hospital will bring training and safety challenges, said Aklilu Tedla, vice president, insights and engagement, regulatory science, cell and gene, Cardinal Health.

Opioids have been used for hundreds of years to treat restless leg syndrome (RLS), but there is currently a registry to understand the long-term effectiveness of opioids to treat RLS , said John Winkelman, MD, PhD, medical director, sleep disorders clinical research program, Massachusetts General Hospital.

Kim A. Reiss, MD, assistant program director of the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program and assistant professor of medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, discusses pancreatic cancer research she presented at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

Joel W. Neal, MD, PhD, associate professor, Division of Oncology, Stanford Cancer Institute, is lead investigator on the COSMIC-021 trial, which is investigating cabozantinib plus atezolizumab vs cabozantinib alone in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as a possible second-line treatment beyond chemotherapy.

Gary Owens, MD, president of Gary Owens Associates, explains the importance of shared decision making and patient-centered care in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

Thanos Zomas, MD, global medical lead, Lymphoma and Leukemia, and global medical lead, Adcetris Program, at Takeda Oncology discusses updated results from the ECHELON-1 study.

David R. Penberthy, MD, MBA, is medical director, Radiation Oncology, Bon Secours-Southside Medical Center in Petersburg, Virginia, and president of the Association of Community Cancer Centers for the 2022-2023 term.

Kashyap Patel, MD, CEO of Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associates, current president of the Community Oncology Alliance, and associate editor of Evidence-Based Oncology™, discusses his partnership with Sema4 and LabCorp and their joint goal to advance whole-exome sequencing (WES) for targeted oncology treatment.

Enrique Ocio, MD, PhD, hematology department head, Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, Santander, Spain, discusses phase 1b trial results for subcutaneous (sub-Q) vs intravenous isatuximab, both formulations administered in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM).

Michael Ciarametaro, MBA, vice president of research at the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC), explains the ways that the gene therapy market is working to address concerns regarding contractual riders for value-based contracts for expensive therapies.

Randall A. Oyer, MD, medical director, oncology, and medical director, Cancer Risk Evaluation Program, Lancaster General Health, and clinical professor of cancer biology at Penn Medicine, discusses the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology/Association of Community Cancer Centers recommendations for improving diversity in clinical trials.

Kashyap Patel, MD, CEO of Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associates, current president of the Community Oncology Alliance, and associate editor of Evidence-Based Oncology™, talks with us ahead of the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.

Susan Redline, MD, MPH, professor of sleep medicine and epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, gives a preview of her SLEEP 2022 keynote and discusses her 30 years of sleep epidemiology advocacy.

Will Nutland, DrPH, is cofounder of PrEPster, honorary assistant professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and an activist.

Allogeneic, or off-the-shelf, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies will bring new logistical challenges, said Aklilu Tedla, vice president, insights and engagement, regulatory science, cell and gene, Cardinal Health.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Hui Zheng, PhD, discusses his recent research on the association between childhood income inequality and declining adult health.