Oncology

Key lessons learnt at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's policy meeting: Redefining Quality Measurement in Oncology.

Ensuring access to appropriate data and then using the information to improve healthcare outcomes remains an ongoing challenge-this was the conclusion drawn by panelists participating at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s Oncology Policy Summit on Redefining Quality Measurement in Oncology.

This week, the top managed care stories included the end of the latest attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act; a call to better include the patient's voice in cancer quality metrics; and an argument for caution regarding the newly approved CAR T-cell therapy, Kymriah.

Not only do patients with cancer incur higher costs when treated in the hospital outpatient setting compared with community oncology practices, they also have higher rates of emergency department visits, according to a recent study.

After examining over 1000 cases of high-grade gliomas in children and young adults, researchers have split these rare brain tumors into at least 10 different subtypes, which could help clinicians choose and deliver more effective treatments.

As clinical trials get more complex and fewer patients are available to participate in any particular trial, technology is going to be critical for improving patient access to trials and making the whole process of being on a trial easier for patients and physicians, explained Amy Abernethy, MD, PhD, the chief medical officer, chief scientific officer, and senior vice president of oncology at Flatiron Health.

Combining positron emission tomography and computed tomography early in the treatment plan for patients diagnosed with advanced melanoma can help identify the potential benefit of a specific immunotherapy and avoid the risk of non-beneficial intervention.

A new case study of 12 advanced primary care practices found that none provided comprehensive cancer survivorship care, which the authors attributed to insufficient information systems and difficulties identifying survivors.

Advancements in the cancer immunotherapy pipeline are leading to the production of immune checkpoint inhibitors, and a recent report from Global Business Intelligence (GBI) Research titled “Cancer Immunotherapies-First-in-Class Pipeline Dominated by Immunomodulators and PD-1 Like Targets” took a look at the pipeline.

While the healthcare industry moves more toward value-based payment models, oncology practices are at a disadvantage because few payers truly understand the nuances of cancer care to design good oncology payment models, explained Aaron Lyss, director of value-based care for Tennessee Oncology.

Among women treated at health centers receiving federal funding under Title X, the proportion receiving cervical cancer screening tests declined significantly from 2005 to 2015, according to new research.

At the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's Oncology Policy Summit, a physician administrator from the MD Anderson Cancer Center discussed weaving the patient focus into outcomes measurements.

While the FDA’s approval of the immunotherapy tisagenlecleucel represents a landmark in the oncology field, the treatment is far from being a cure and should be viewed in context of its $475,000 price tag, a group of oncologists wrote in a commentary published in JAMA.

Researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science have developed a multiple criteria decision analysis model, The Advance Value Framework, that payers can utilize for evaluating new medicines that come to the market.

Flatiron Health focuses on helping community oncologists because they still care for the majority of patients with cancer and make it possible for patients to get care without traveling long distances, explained Nat Turner, co-founder and CEO of Flatiron Health.

When immune-related adverse events arise from nivolumab, it may indicate that the therapy is having greater efficacy against non—small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as a new study demonstrates a link between these events and improved survival outcomes.

Childhood-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is known to cause painful gastrointestinal symptoms, but a new study of Swedish patients finds that it is also associated with an increased risk of cancer.

A new review article published in the New England Journal of Medicine explores the recent developments in radiotherapy that have improved survival and quality of life for patients with cancer.

Physicians across different institutes who have been involved in clinical trials of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells in B-cell lymphomas have developed a guideline for monitoring and managing the symptoms associated with this treatment.

A new commentary suggests that interventions to promote physical activity in survivors of cancer should be delivered at home and guided by oncologists.

Experiments with baker's yeast showed why a fat-regulating enzyme is needed in the body.

New results published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report have identified a surge in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) during the period 2001 to 2008, followed by stabilization during 2008 to 2014.

In light of rising rates of preventive mastectomies among women with breast cancer, a new study looks at whether patient and surgeon factors, including attitudes toward breast conservation, affect the odds of receiving this surgery.

There are a number of challenges with implementing value-based payment models in oncology, but it's an exciting time and offshoots of the Oncology Care Model (OCM) can "revolutionize" cancer care delivery, said Michael Kolodziej, MD, national medical director of managed care strategy at Flatiron Health.

Cabazitaxel can now be used at a dose of 20 mg/m2 every 3 weeks in combination with prednisone in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have received a docetaxel-based treatment regimen.