February 2022

The president’s aim is a 50% reduction in age-adjusted cancer deaths by 2047. This goal seems audacious, but it is likely achievable.

Lessons from the early days of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy remain fresh as Kite Pharma prepares for the FDA to act on its supplemental biologics license application for use of axi-cel as second-line therapy in relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma. A target action date is set for April 1, 2022.

Rajini Katipamula-Malisetti, MD, a medical oncologist and hematologist with Minnesota Oncology who practices in Coon Rapids, has seen telehealth’s usefulness up close. During a pandemic, it can increase the number of touch points in areas such as survivorship care and nutrition, which would otherwise require a separate visit to the office.

How Value-based Care Is Changing Radiation Oncology for the Better

AccessHope is a program that allows patients and community oncologists to tap into the expertise of City of Hope, often through electronic sharing of records so the patient does not have to travel.

The changes come as Tennessee Oncology must now plan for a gap between the Oncology Care Model and a future alternative payment model from CMS.

A statement from NCCN’s Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination and Pre-exposure Prophylaxis said that the panel “endorses vaccination for all eligible persons based on FDA-approved indications or emergency use authorization” and emphasized the need for everyone to be fully vaccinated—including third doses.

The Oncology Care Model (OCM) is set to expire June 30, 2022. With no successor on the horizon, respondents to a recent survey by the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) say features such as dedicated navigators and weekend appointments could be reduced or lost if revenues that supported them are eliminated.

Zanubrutinib is a second-generation Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor that has fewer off-target effects and less cardiotoxicity than ibrutinib, a first-generation BTK inhibitor.

Ray Bailey, BPharm, RPh, senior vice president of Pharmacy Services for Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) Pharmacy Services operations, spoke with The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) just after the conclusion of the 63rd American Society of Hematology Meeting & Exposition, which took place December 11-14, 2021.

Nicholas McAndrew, MD, MSCE, a medical oncologist and breast cancer specialist at UCLA Health and assistant clinical professor of Medicine at UCLA in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, discusses the arrival of CDK4/6 inhibitors in the treatment landscape.