Oncology

Adam M. Brufsky, MD, PhD, co-director of the Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center at University of Pittsburgh, notes important value coordinates of breast cancer care.

This review assesses the current molecular testing landscape for non–small-cell lung cancer in the United States.

Cancer survivors may be able to manage the extreme fatigue they experience after treatment by knowingly taking a placebo pill, according to researchers at University of Alabama at Birmingham and Harvard Medical School.

The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends against screening for ovarian cancer in asymptomatic women who are not known to have a high-risk hereditary cancer syndrome because evidence shows that screening does not reduce ovarian cancer mortality.

Charges for oncology services vary widely across hospitals and impose financial burdens. Further legislation is needed to address disparities in access to high-quality cancer care.

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare disease, but it's getting less rare. Study results presented at the American Academy of Dermatology 2018 Annual Meeting found that cases of MCC increased 95% between 2000 and 2013

We developed short patient experience surveys that were sensitive to our broad quality initiative, were meaningful and acceptable to patients, and had good response rates.

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the healthcare and mainstream press.

Flatiron Health expects to maintain its current business model in the transaction.

Nat Turner, co-founder and CEO of Flatiron Health, says that clinical research accessibility is one of the biggest barriers in oncology care that Flatiron Health is working to remove.

The annual price of monoclonal antibody therapies used in oncology and hematology is about $100,000 higher than those used in other disease states.

First-degree family history was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer among women aged 65 and older, and risk associated with family history was not significantly modified by breast density, according to a study in JAMA Oncology.

FDA has approved apalutamide, the first treatment for nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, based on results from a phase 3 study that showed the drug reduced the risk of metastasis or death by 72% and improved median metastasis-free survival by more than 2 years.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) have developed new guidelines on managing immune checkpoint inhibitor-related toxicities.

There is a greater overall survival benefit for patients with recurrent urothelial cancer being treated with pembrolizumab versus chemotherapy, according to long-term results of the KEYNOTE-045 trial.

Last week, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) published its review of the leading oncology pathway vendors in the United States in the Journal of Oncology Practice. The report found that overall, the prominent commercial pathway programs in the United States are aligned with ASCO’s evaluation criteria.

Medicaid expansion in Kentucky led to an increase of screening mammograms, screening coverage, and breast-conserving surgery for women aged 20 to 64 with breast cancer, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. However, the study also showed that time from diagnosis to operation increased post expansion and time from operation to chemotherapy remained unchanged.

We want to know all sides of the 2-risk model, like with any challenge or strategy, said Roger Brito, DO, national director for oncology, Aetna.

In prostate cancer, we're using combinations by looking to see how 1 drug may trigger an immune infiltrate or proteins that allow the tumor to resist the monotherapy, said Sumit Subudhi, MD, PhD, genitourinary medical oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center.

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 addition of docetaxel to first-line long-term hormone therapy in patients with prostate cancer is associated with improved quality of life (QoL) benefits and cost effectiveness, according to study results presented at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

There was a reduced rate of uninsured patients at the time of diagnosis and a shift to earlier stage at time of diagnosis for patients with testicular cancer in states that adopted Medicaid expansion in 2014, according to findings presented at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

Daily image-guided radiotherapy, when compared to weekly control, decreases the risk of recurrence and rectal toxicity, but is associated with an increased risk of second cancer, according to study results presented at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

Robotic procedures have really exploded in prostate cancer, said Christopher Kane, MD, professor of urology, University of California, San Diego. Robotic radical prostatectomy is now the most common way a radical prostatectomy is done in the United States.