Oncology

On the second day of the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology, physicians got together to discuss the real-world needs of alternate payment models in hematology.

During a health outcomes session on the second day of the American Society of Hematology meeting, data presented from a study conducted at the University of Nebraska Medical Center suggested that the site of care bears a significant influence on the outcomes of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Two posters presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology discussed patient-reported outcomes measures and quality-of-life indicators as supportive tools for treatment in individuals being treated for acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome.

Presenters at an education session, titled Patient-Reported Outcomes in Hematology, addressed the importance of embracing the patient perspective in healthcare delivery, on the second day of the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology, being held December 5-8, in Orlando, Florida.

At the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology, providers brooded over implications of quality measures and how they will influence clinical practice in the coming years.

An early session on the first day of the annual meeting and exposition of the American Society of Hematology, being held December 5-8, 2015, in Orlando, Florida, saw presentations on the promise of newly approved hematology/oncology agents, in addition to the challenges that clinicians face in treating patients with these drugs.

As the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology kicks off on Saturday, December 5, 2015, a lot of new clinical data will be presented, practice-changing treatments will be introduced, and new healthcare policies will be discussed.

In a study published in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, the authors present a rating system that includes downstream costs following treatment to estimate the real-world financial impact of the drug.

An exhaustive study published by Kaiser Permanente in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute has confirmed that antidepressants do not cause recurrence in breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen.

A study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment cognitive-behavioral stress management introduced early in care management can improve breast cancer outcomes.

A new study suggests that a poor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy-frequently administered to black, Hispanic, and Asian women-could dictate survival rates in breast cancer.

The current dialogue occurring between payers and providers is critical in today's healthcare environment, and it's an interaction that certainly was not happening just 5 or 6 years ago, according to Ted Okon, executive director of the Community Oncology Alliance.

Following the approval of daratumumab earlier this month, multiple myeloma patients now have another opportunity to combat the disease: elotuzumab.

Relaxed direct-to-consumer advertising restrictions for drugs by the FDA in 1997 has precipitated an increase in prescription drug utilization, not just among Medicare enrollees, but also among non-elderly users.

Oncology, like primary care, is ripe for delivery reform, but it has remained stuck in a fee-for-service mindset, said Kavita Patel, MD, fellow in economic studies and managing director at Brookings Institution.

The American College of Physicians has published a paper in the Annals of Internal Medicine that advices clinicians to prescribe generic drugs whenever possible.

Waiting until there's a cancer diagnosis or other crisis is not the time to be taking the family's medical history. Testing companies and genetic counselors encourage families to share information when they are all in one place.

Patients considering using a genetic test should meet with a genetic counselor first to get a better understanding of the patient's goal for getting the test done and determine the likelihood that a test might be useful, explained Joy Larsen Haidle, MS, CGC, president of the National Society of Genetic Counselors.

The approval follows 5 months after Bristol-Myers Squibb submitted phase 3 results of the Checkmate-066 trial for FDA review.

Two months after being granted a Breakthrough Therapy designation by the FDA for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), nivolumab was today approved by regulators for treating mRCC patients who have failed a certain type of prior therapy.

A state-led program, initiated in 2003, has nearly doubled screening colonoscopy rates in New York City and also eliminated racial and ethnic disparities in the process.

Giving cancer patients what they want and need is the goal, but getting there isn't easy, according to healthcare experts who took part in Patient-Centered Oncology Care 2015, presented November 19-20, 2015, by The American Journal of Managed Care. Drug costs demand difficult conversations about value, and changes in the law require oncologists to learn whole new ways to be paid.

Three years after Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center refused to add Zaltrap to its formulary due to cost, value is part of the national conversation in cancer care. The new question is what will happen when physicians assume risk.

If the FDA steps in to regulate laboratory-developed tests, it will slow down innovation, add costs to the development of the product, and likely decrease the number of tests that come out, but the public health benefits of increased oversight might be worth it, said Scott Gottlieb, MD, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

While the 340B Drug Pricing Program was designed to help facilities that take care of impoverished patients with low-cost drugs, what the program has morphed into is almost the opposite of what it was intended to do, said Peter Bach, MD, MPP, director of Memorial Sloan Kettering's Center for Health Policy and Outcomes.