Oncology

Loyola University Chicago and Loyola Medicine announced plans this week to develop their own chimeric antigen receptor T-cells that would have less toxic side effects.

Earlier this week, 3 studies were released that investigated the financial difficulties seen in patients living with cancer. Such difficulties are referred to as “financial toxicity,” which was studied in patients with metastatic breast cancer and older patients, as well as the conversations about cost of care that women with breast cancer have with their physicians.

Earlier this week, drug manufacturer Astrazeneca announced the results from a phase 3 trial studying durvalumab (Imfinzi) among patients with stage III unresectable non­–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who did not have disease progression after concurrent chemoradiotherapy.

With cancer costs rising and patients with cancer disproportionately facing financial toxicity, alternative payment and care delivery models are thought to help alleviate some of the cost burden. However, a review finds limited evidence available to evaluate the efficacy of alternative payment and care models in cancer care.

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.

The flagship event of more than 450 Biden Cancer Community Summits convening throughout the day is focusing on sharing experiences, promoting new solutions, and bridging gaps in cancer care.

Although many different treatments exist for basal cell carcinoma (BCC), many methods have not been compared in head-to-head randomized trials. A review recently published in Annals of Internal Medicine looked to evaluate the comparative effectiveness and safety of treatments in adults with BCC.

This week, the top managed care news included the Senate overwhelmingly voting to ban pharmacist gag clauses; a study found the current vaccine pipeline for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria may fall short; an expert noted a trend of healthcare cost data seeping into nonhealthcare companies’ earnings calls.

Amgen’s pipeline drug AMG 420, a bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE) for the treatment of patients with relapsing/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM), has found positive preliminary results in a phase 1 trial.

Assessing a patient’s understanding of his or her own illness is important as cancer treatments become more and more complex, said Denalee O’Malley, PhD, LSW, instructor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

As September marks National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, we sat down with ovarian cancer survivor Marion Roth and Vaagn Andikyan, MD, gynecologic oncologist, Western Connecticut Health Network, to discuss Marion's cancer journey and the importance of a multidisciplinary care team in treating complexities in cancer care.

With general consensus that those 70 years and older should not be routinely screened for prostate cancer, researchers argue that their study results identify an area for cutting low-value services to reduce healthcare spending.

Last week, the FDA granted priority review to a new supplemental Biologics License Application for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as a monotherapy for first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous or squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients whose tumors express PD-L1 without EGFR or ALK mutations.

The study by the National Institute on Aging produced a few surprises and was stopped early when aspirin showed no benefit.

A National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) working group dedicated to analyzing current challenges under existing policy and treatment paradigms presented their findings and recommendations at an NCCN Policy Summit in Washington, DC.