Clinical

As oncology moves toward more deep diagnostic testing and as standard of care continues to quickly evolve, technology advancements are necessary to continue to improve patient access to clinical trials, explained Amy Abernethy, MD, PhD, the chief medical officer, chief scientific officer, and senior vice president of oncology at Flatiron Health.

The EMPA-REG trial has been a big step forward for clinicians being able to put patients with type 2 diabetes onto treatment that also reduces cardiovascular disease risk, which is the primary cause of death in these patients, explained Eliot A. Brinton, MD, FAHA, FNLA, president of the Utah Lipid Center.

Roger S. McIntyre, MD, FRCPC, professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, University of Toronto, and of the Head, Mood Disorders, Psychopharmacology Unit, University Health Network, discussed the contributing factors and effects of misdiagnosing or inappropriately treating patients with antidepressants.

A session at the 2017 NEI Congress emphasized the importance of making an accurate diagnosis in patients presenting symptoms of depression.

Only 1 in 3 patients will achieve remission on their first antidepressant, and 67% of patients require 4 antidepressant trials before symptoms remit, said Thomas L. Schwartz, MD, during a session on strategies for switching, combining, or augmenting treatments for patients with major depressive disorder.

A specific mutation has been linked with acquired resistance in immunotherapy drugs used to treat non–small lung cancer (NSCLC).

Roche had 2 drugs approved by the FDA—one that is the first approved treatment for a rare blood disease and the other is approved as a first-line treatment for anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive metastatic non–small cell lung cancer.

A recap of abstracts presented at The American College of Rheumatology’s 2017 Annual Meeting, including an analysis of data available in an electronic health records database and outcomes and cost effectiveness of sarilumab.

Research into GSK-3 inhibition in cells may have implications for leukemia treatment.

With the risk of upgrade of flat epithelial atypia to malignancy is low, surveillance rather than surgery is a reasonable option for patients, according to a study.

New research shows that eliminating Treg cells that prevent the cancer-fighting effect of an immunotherapy treatment doesn't actually end their suppressive qualities.

At the Community Oncology Alliance's Payer Exchange Summit VII: Oncology Payment Reform, practices shared their challenges and successes in the second year participating in the Oncology Care Model.

A new study questions the use of stents in certain patients; the House is expected to pass CHIP funding, but how to pay for it continues to be debated; and nearly all older, poorer people will have access to cheaper ACA plans in 2018.

While current, prior, and change in the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire score were all significnatly associated with lower risk of mortality and heart failure hospitalization in isolation, when the current score was included with either prior or change score, only the current score was significantly associated with lower risk for all-cause mortality.

Black men have the highest prevalence of intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) and the highest frequency of multiple plaques, a new study has found.

Novartis has filed for an expanded indication for its chimeric antigen receptor T-cell treatment, tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah), for use in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Strong chemotherapy may be part of the treatment plan for patients diagnosed with cancer, but it also comes with risks. A new campaign will empower patients with cancer to better understand and navigate risks such as febrile neutropenia that are associated with strong chemotherapy.

Results of the 70-gene signature assay strongly influence physician's treatment recomendations for patients with early breast cancer who were classified as intermediate risk by the 21-gene assay.

A back to back session and panel at the falls’ ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition focused on the importance of utilizing integrated healthcare to treat individuals with addiction and ensuring physicians are educated on understanding addiction.

Hydromorphone is commonly used in hospital emergency rooms to treat patients with migraines; however, the drug is less effective than the drug prochlorperazine used with diphenhydramine, according to research.

Physicians should be cautious when treating patients with lung cancer after progression on nivolumab because nivolumab-refractory lung cancer could have a significant response to salvage chemotherapy, according to a new study.

This fall's ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition

A new study found that patients with borderline pulmonary hypertension (mPAP values of 19 to 24 mm Hg) should be considered an at-risk subgroup with increased mortality compared with patients with lower mean pulmonary arterial pressures.

After a study reported that physicians who authored dermatology clinical guidelines didn't always fully disclose financial conflicts of interest, the American Academy of Dermatology urged the public to view the findings with caution.

New high-risk groups of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease according to GOLD 2017 were found to have more characteristics related to acute exacerbation and mortality risks.

Tuple Health, a healthcare technology startup, interviewed some of the stakeholders participating in value-based care delivery and OCM, to gain their perspective of the state of cancer care and healthcare reform. The results were presented at the Community Oncology Alliance Payer Exchange Summit on Oncology Payment Reform.

In addition to the cost, the excessive overuse of laboratory testing causes patient discomfort and can lead to hospital-acquired anemia, which results in additional testing, prolonged hospitalizations, unnecessary transfusions, and increased mortality for patients with cardiopulmonary diseases.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and their rheumatology healthcare providers commonly face discordance as many patients report a higher disease activity rate than their providers.