Oncology

Equality in cancer care is not sufficient, said Lori Pierce, MD, FASTRO, FASCO, a radiation oncologist from the University of Michigan and president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Equity—which means that patients have similar outcomes, regardless of circumstance—is harder to achieve.

During the first day of the 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, a discussion on disparities in women's cancer care highlighted challenges in the United States and overseas.

Patients who undergo cancer screenings, even when asymptomatic, experience short-lived psychosocial outcomes, such as anxious symptoms, distress, and worry.

Christine Ko, MD, professor of dermatology and pathology at Yale University, reflects on her use of telehealth and how it allowed her to establish and maintain emotional connections with her patients, all at high risk of skin cancer.

Some recent oncology news includes research into factors impacting the well-being of childhood cancer survivors; whether COVID-19 accommodations will last post-pandemic; and a possible new therapy for patients with polycythemia vera.

A literature review sheds light on cancer risk factors and suboptimal screening levels that persist in the United States among certain racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, despite a steady decline in cancer deaths and smoking prevalence.

Because Medicaid has always been a shared program between federal and state governments, there has been wide variation in income limits. Today, 38 states and the District of Columbia have Medicaid expansion.

New guidelines recommend Americans get screened earlier for colon cancer; Johns Hopkins University will send mental health providers on security calls; Tennessee's governor signs bill limiting health care for transgender youth.

Vertically integrated health care delivery systems may be well positioned to help reduce overall mortality and specifically mitigate racial/ethnic disparity gaps in cancer care outcomes.

Attribution algorithms for patients with newly diagnosed cancer should account for cancer type and stage, among other characteristics, to ensure that attribution measurements are accurately calculated, investigators concluded.

A roundup of cancer news from the ESMO Breast Cancer Virtual Congress 2021, which took place last week and was covered by OncLive®.

As people socially distanced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the problems of loneliness and social isolation were exacerbated.

Trial results showed an overall response rate of 48% and a complete response rate of 24%.

Quantifying the return on investment came up for both those implementing an oncology care pathway (as a potential barrier) as well as for payers still not convinced it is a way to go.

In the inaugural Oncology Value Coalition from The American Journal of Managed Care®, Kashyap Patel, MD, led a discussion with Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA; and Karen Winkfield, MD, PhD, exploring findings that suggest minority groups develop cancer at higher rates and experience worse outcomes than nonminority groups.

In the inaugural Oncology Value Coalition from The American Journal of Managed Care®, Kashyap Patel, MD, led a discussion with Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA; and Karen Winkfield, MD, PhD, exploring findings that suggest minority groups develop cancer at higher rates and experience worse outcomes than nonminority groups.

In the inaugural Oncology Value Coalition from The American Journal of Managed Care®, Kashyap Patel, MD, led a discussion with Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA; and Karen Winkfield, MD, PhD, exploring findings that suggest minority groups develop cancer at higher rates and experience worse outcomes than nonminority groups.

Treatment patterns and overall survival were similar regardless of site of care between patients receiving anticancer therapy in the hospital outpatient vs physician office setting.

Russell Langan, MD, chief of Surgical Oncology and Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery at Saint Barnabas Medical Center discusses the workflow of a cloud-based data management platform for patients with pancreatic cysts.

The device, which highlights for gastroenterologists regions of the colon that have visual characteristics consistent with possible cancerous abnormalities, is already in use in Europe.

Cases of pancreatic and liver cancers are expected to rise by 2040, and there will be more melanoma cases, according to new estimates of future US cancer incidence and death.

Russell Langan, MD, chief of Surgical Oncology and Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, details the implementation of the center's Pancreatic Cyst Surveillance Program.

The study was originally undertaken to convince MD Anderson’s providers that publishing survey results online would help their reputations.