Richard W. Joseph, MD, highlights clinical trial results showing that melanoma patients with NRAS mutations tend to have better response rates to immunotherapy compared with patients with wild-type NRAS. NRAS mutations may be valuable predictors of response in patients with melanoma, suggests Dr Joseph.
Dr Joseph discusses previous research that investigated whether response rates for patients treated with high-dose interleukin-2 varied based on whether the patient had an NRAS mutation, a BRAF mutation, or were wild-type for both NRAS and BRAF. The results showed that patients with NRAS mutations responded better to treatment than patients with BRAF mutations or patients who were wild-type for both NRAS and BRAF. More recent research has demonstrated that patients with NRAS mutations also respond better when treated with other types of immunotherapies, he adds.
Although these results are exciting, there is still no definitive answer as to why melanoma patients with NRAS mutations respond better than patients without such mutations, remarks Dr Joseph. He is hopeful that additional studies will provide additional insight into the role of NRAS mutations in melanoma.
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February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
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Risk for Second Primary Melanoma Increases After Primary Melanoma Diagnosis as Men Age
March 28th 2024A population-based cohort study out of Norway has found that older men have a higher risk of developing second primary invasive melanoma following an initial primary melanoma, suggesting the benefits of increased surveillance in these patients.
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Drs Raymond Thertulien, Joseph Mikhael on Racial Disparities in Multiple Myeloma Care Access
December 28th 2023In the wake of the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Raymond Thertulien, MD, PhD, of Novant Health, and Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, discussed health equity research highlights from the meeting and drivers of racial disparities in multiple myeloma outcomes.
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CMS released a final rule to help patients obtain Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage and issued a proposed rule to update Medicare payment policies and rates for inpatient rehabilitation facilities; debate over if gift card incentives are acceptable in health care marketing.
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