Oncology

WIth different societies and organizations releasing contrary guidelines around breast cancer screening, experience with past patients or friends and family members could influence physicians' decisions around when to start screening mammography.

A Samfund grant recipient narrates her experience of being diagnosed young with cancer and how the support from The Samfund "made everyday school and life manageable."

A new study published Monday by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) in Boston reports findings on a gene that is responsible for creating a protein that may help melanoma to grow and metastasize.

A systematic review of the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) found elevated reporting for both tofacitinib (Xeljanz) and ruxolitinib (Jakafi) for thromboembolic adverse events (AEs), suggesting the possibility of a class-wide issue with Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors.

Health information brand Healthline launched its “State of…” series with its “State of Cancer” study, analyzing how digital information influences patient treatment decisions and recognizing generational differences.

The FDA has approved Foundation Medicine's FoundationOne CDx, the first-of-a-kind comprehensive companion diagnostic test for solid tumors. The test looks for hundreds of cancer genes, providing healthcare professionals with a more complete picture of what's causing tumor growth and guidance for treatment decisions.

A study published Thursday in JAMA Oncology found that improvements in survival among California cancer patients were almost exclusively limited to patients with private or Medicare insurance.

A panel on the importance of clinical and non-clinical stakeholders in a patient’s care trajectory brought together a diverse group of stakeholders at The American Journal of Managed Care®’s Patient-Centered Oncology Care® meeting.

Liver and endometrial cancer accounted for high numbers of new cases; increases of these cancer types have been attributed to rising rates of diabetes and obesity.

After a year-long process, Shawnee Mission Health (SMH) is now a certified member of the MD Anderson Cancer Network, the top ranked cancer center in the US. The 2 will work together to raise the standard of cancer care in the Kansas City metropolitan community through patient-centered care.

While African Americans are 3 times more likely than Caucasians to be diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM)—and twice as likely to die of the disease—they are underrepresented in MM disease research.

A study published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians found that 42% of all incident cancer cases in US adults age 30 years or older in 2014 were attributable to potentially modifiable exposures. Exposures included smoking, alcohol intake, physical inactivity, and low fiber intake.

A study published in JAMA Oncology found that a significant number of patients newly diagnosed with cancer have had a prior cancer. The prevalence differed among age group and incident cancer type.

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.

This week, the top managed care stories included a new rule from CMS to address drug costs for seniors; a campaign to get payers to fund the artificial pancreas is working; and a new survey identifies how Americans prefer to treat pain.

Roche is suing Pfizer to block the company from selling a biosimilar referencing its breast-cancer drug Herceptin in the United States, claiming that the biosimilar infringes on 40 of its patents.

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy should be the first line of treatment for certain prostate cancers and lymphomas with a major genetic weakness, according to researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

An analysis using mixed quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as site visits to 7 US oncology practices, identified 13 attributes within 5 themes that potentially contribute to high-quality care at a relatively low total cost.

The evolution of the navigator role has been an important development in cancer care, according to panelists who offered various perspectives on helping patients along the cancer journey.

With the growing shift to community-based and patient-centered care, the National Quality Forum (NQF) and the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) have launched initiatives to ensure that patients with serious illness receive safe, effective, and high-quality care. At the same time, professionals in the healthcare industry are highlighting the importance of integrating this type of care into the oncology practice.