Latest Conference Articles

The use of immune checkpoint inhibitors has revolutionized the treatment of cancer, said John A. Thompson, MD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, but “With this good news has come some not so good news”: immune-related adverse events can cause serious harm to patients receiving these drugs.

Much about using PARP inhibitors is open to debate, starting with what kind of genetic test to give before using them. Combination therapies are the next frontier, according to an expert panel.

Jim Schwartz, RPh, president of the National Community Oncology Dispensing Association and executive director of pharmacy operations for Texas Oncology, discusses how his practice will handle using CAR T-cell therapies to treat patients.

One in 5 parents of boys said the main reason that they haven’t vaccinated their sons for HPV was because they didn’t receive a recommendation for the vaccination, compared with 1 in 10 girls, said Anna Beavis, MD, MPH, a gynecologic oncologist fellow at Johns Hopkins University.

Approximately 60% of patients with endometrial cancer are obese, explained Victoria Bae-Jump, MD, PhD, associate professor, gynecologic oncology, University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Uptake for the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination has never reached CDC targets. Minority children from lower-income households are more likely to get the vaccination than white children from higher-income households, according to the study author.

An educational session helps oncologists understand the decision-making process for selecting treatments for recurrent ovarian cancer.

Having healthcare professionals with different sets of experiences or different training can help create better solutions and improve patient outcomes, explained Scott Page, PhD, the Leonid Hurwicz Collegiate Professor of Complex Systems, Political Science, and Economics at the University of Michigan.

Clinical trials, and offering patients support to take part in them, can extend lives of patients with ovarian cancer, according to a researcher from the Medical College of Georgia. But another analysis finds that gynecologial cancers are low on the government's funding priority list.

Medicaid programs have been working to address to opioid epidemic in a number of ways and is starting to get involved in addressing social determinants of health, explained Anne L. Schwartz, PhD, executive director of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission.

At the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 23rd Annual Conference, held March 22-24 in Orlando, Florida, Sharon H. Giordano, MD, MPH, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; Anthony D. Elias, MD, University of Colorado Cancer Center; and William J. Gradishar, MD, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, provided an update on the NCCN guidelines for the treatment of breast cancer and discussed new directions in breast cancer therapy.

During a Friday session of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network 23rd Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, Cliff Goodman, PhD, of the Lewin Group, moderated a multi-stakeholder panel discussion on delivering and receiving cancer care in value-based care models.

The purpose of using Positive Quality Interventions (PQIs) is to create a more positive patient experience and better outcomes, explained Neal Dave, PharmD, pharmacy manager for Texas Oncology and chair of the PQI initiative for National Community Oncology Dispensing Association (NCODA).

The second day of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 23rd Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, opened with a dual keynote presentation on transforming cancer care in the United States.

Sharing data and a collaborative relationship are 2 best practices from commercial payers participating in the Oncology Care Model, according to Ron Kline, MD, FAAP, of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.

Sidedness matters for metastatic disease, and right-sided colon cancer has been known for a shorter time than left-sided colon cancer, making the right-sided version more difficult to treat, explained Alan Venook, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Ed F. Haislmaier, the Preston A. Wells Jr senior research fellow at the Institute for Family Community, and Opportunity at The Heritage Foundation, talks about the impact of new business partnerships on healthcare costs.

“Even though we have all these fancy, effective drugs,” said Shaji K. Kumar, MD, “supportive care still plays an important role in multiple myeloma.”

Alan Venook, MD, recalled a time when the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for treating colon cancer were just 4 pages long. “I don’t think we envisioned that these guidelines would take on the life that they have,” he said.

“HIV status alone should not be used for cancer treatment decision making,” said Gita Suneja, MD, Duke Cancer Institute.

Each stakeholder (employers, patients, family members, physicians, payers) values the impact of novel therapies differently, said Thomas Graf, MD, chief medical officer and vice president, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

At the Association of Community Cancer Centers’ (ACCC) 44th Annual Meeting & Cancer Center Business Summit, March 14-16, 2018, in Washington, DC, panelists discussed the most powerful forces that are reshaping cancer care to be more multidisciplinary.

Thomas LeBlanc, MD, Duke Cancer Institute, addresses the ways palliative care and hospice can improve end-of-life outcomes for patients with blood cancers.

There needs to be a national dialogue on how can we reach a point where our dollars are used wisely, patients get what they need, and we all get the innovation that we want, said Robert Dubois, MD, PhD, chief science officer and executive vice president, National Pharmaceutical Council.

Panelists discussed low-value care, unnecessary services, and what can be done to address overuse in healthcare during a panel at the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design’s (V-BID) annual V-BID Summit on March 14.

During a session on expanding the role of value-based insurance design (VBID) in public insurance at the University of Michigan V-BID Center’s annual V-BID Summit on March 14, panelists representing 3 different payers shared how they have seen value-based principles take hold in their plans and their predictions for the future.

There still needs to be more education around what real-world evidence is, explained Jason Harris, associate director of policy and programs at National Health Council.

No one wants to think that they can’t afford the treatment, and they certainly don’t want to raise that issue with their physician, said Ian Manners, MBA, co-founder, CEO, Vivor.