Oncology

Schonherz will be responsible for day-to-day operations.

CMS said it is expanding coverage of next generation sequencing (NGS) for use as a diagnostic for patients with germline breast and ovarian cancer, paving the way for Medicare beneficiaries to receive more personalized medicine. However, an advocate said the wording of CMS' decision could actually limit testing access for some women with breast or ovarian cancer.

Blue Cross Blue Shield utilizes data to drive insights into what works and what doesn't work in cancer care, as well as, delineating trends through our collaboration with provider specialties and organizations across the US, said Jennifer Atkins, MBA, vice president of Network Solutions at Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer to be diagnosed in men as younger men—those younger than age 40—and it can be particularly aggressive. Advances in therapy have improved survival rates, but if young men have chemotherapy after surgery, they may live with side effects for decades.

Five issues in healthcare were spotlighted as key developments to watch; FDA to ban all e-cig vape flavors except for menthol and tobacco; Google AI system shown to improve detection of breast cancer through mammograms.

A team at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston led by original pioneers in immuno-oncology have published a paper in Nature Medicine that discusses an immune-suppressing enzyme that was strongly present in glioblastoma but not in 5 other tumor types the team studied.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Kashyap Patel, MD, the chief executive officer of Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associates—a leading OCM practice—and associate editor of Evidence-Based Oncology™ (EBO), as well as Tennessee Oncology’s Stephen M. Schleicher, MD, MBA, to discuss Oncology Care First.

For more than 45 years, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer has been working tirelessly toward a world without lung and other thoracic cancers. To add strength to our efforts we recently joined with other leading organizations in the lung cancer space to create a powerful force for change: The Lung Ambition Alliance

As CMS prepares to move forward with new models of value-based cancer care, a radiation oncologist, speaking at the Institute for Value-Based Medicine®, discussed her findings regarding whether accountable care models had an effect on cancer care spending.

Coverage from the Institute for Value-Based Medicine® session held in Nashville, Tennessee.

In cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), there is a greater risk of symptomatic heart failure in the first year following initiation of anthracycline treatment.

Patients with breast cancer who have government insurance face a higher risk of death, according to a retrospective study presented at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on December 13.

Dr Alvarnas is editor-in-chief of Evidence-Based Oncology.™ He is vice president of Government Affairs, senior medical director for Employer Strategy, and associate clinical professor, Hematology & Hematologic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, Califonia.