Oncology

While use of palliative care at the end of life has increased, disparities remain, and not all patients who are terminally ill with blood cancers are having discussions about their goals of care at the end of life.

Administration of immuno-oncology therapy for cancer diagnoses in the community clinic setting is associated with lower costs compared with administration in a hospital-based clinic setting.

Two abstracts presented at the Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Meetings analyzed the detection of minimal residual disease during and after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Since carfilzomib was approved at a 27 mg/m2 twice-weekly dose, it has since been optimized at 56 mg/m2 twice-weekly and a recent study found benefits of a 70 mg/m2 once-weekly dose. However, most patients are still treated with the original approval dosage, suggesting they might be undertreated.

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have recently found that biologic age, or a DNA-based estimate of a person’s age, is associated with future development of breast cancer.

How to improve patient-reported measurement in oncology valued-based care is the focus of a new report from The National Pharmaceutical Council and Discern Health.

Researchers have confirmed that there is no link between flu shots and miscarriages; a liquid biopsy is as effective as tissue-based testing for identifying treatment for lung cancer; and physicians generate an average of $2 million a year for hospitals.

Bruce Feinberg, DO, vice president and chief medical officer for Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions, recently chaired a discussion centered on the flurry of megamergers in healthcare: Walmart and Humana, Aetna and CVS, Cigna and Express Scripts, and Amazon and PillPack.

On March 7, The American Journal of Managed Care® will host its latest Institute for Value-Based Medicine in Dallas, Texas, with the Advancing Quality Oncology Care in the Evolving Value-Based Care Landscape meeting.

A high proportion of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who achieve a negative minimal residual disease (MRD) status still relapse, indicating a more sensitive method of detecting MRD is needed.

Therapeutic updates from Patient-Centered Oncology Care® 2018.

Updates on reporting otucomes and pathway design from Patient-Centered Oncology Care®.

Various stakeholders discuss the future of oncology care at the Patient-Centered Oncology Care® meeting. Editor’s Note: After this issue went to press, Wes Hall passed away February 20, 2019, after living more than 5 years with stage IV stomach cancer. He was active in the Community Oncology Alliance Patient Advocacy Network and supported participation in clinical trials.

The major alternative payment model put forth by Medicare, the Oncology Care Model, doesn’t tell practices how they are doing until after the fact. This puts practices at risk for things beyond their control, said Barbara McAneny, MD, a New Mexico oncologist/hematologist who is the current president of the American Medical Association (AMA).

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

Researchers have used positron emission tomography scans to identify which patients with a type of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–positive breast cancer might benefit most from targeted agents alone and can be spared chemotherapy.

The majority of countries could see an end to cervical cancer as a public health problem by 2060, according to a new study in The Lancet Oncology.

The update follows a study published in November that found almost no difference in the frequency of mutations between patients with breast cancer who met National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines and those who didn't.

Worldwide, more than half a million new cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are diagnosed annually. The incidence of HCC in the United States is rising with an estimated 31,000 new cases in 2018. Disease prognosis remains poor, with a 5-year survival rate across all disease stages estimated between 10%-20%, and 3% for those diagnosed with distant disease. Although morbidity is significant, especially among patients with advanced-stage disease, limited information exists on the humanistic and economic burden of HCC.

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

Currently, minimal residual disease testing is being used for prognostication not for treatment decisions, explained Thomas G. Martin, MD, clinical professor of medicine, Adult Leukemia and Bone Marrow Transplantation Program, associate director, Myeloma Program, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF); co-leader, Hematopoietic Malignancies Program, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

AJMC®TV interviews let you catch up on what’s new and important about changes in healthcare, with insights from key decision makers—from the clinician, to the health plan leader, to the regulator. When every minute in your day matters, AJMC®TV interviews keep you informed. Access the video clips at ajmc.com/interviews.

This week, the top managed care news included increased demand for long-acting contraception since President Trump took office; a payer decision on an insulin pump alarmed diabetes advocates; and despite being involved in cancer treatment decisions, many primary care providers don't feel prepared to do so.

Minimal residual disease (MRD) is a strong prognosticator of cancer outcomes, and recent research found that patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (MM) are more likely to achieve MRD on daratumumab than on a standard of care alone.