Maggie L. Shaw

With the 2024 Community Oncology Conference, from the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), set to kick off this week in Orlando, Florida, The American Journal of Managed Care® spoke with Emily Touloukian, DO, COA board member and 1 of 6 cochairs for this year’s meeting, on highlights from the packed agenda and the power of advocacy.

In this investigation, outcomes of interest were morbidity rate and length of hospital stay or a traumatic injury among a homeless population, and whether age and/or injury severity had an influence on that relationship—with implications for improving the discharge process for these patients.

This analysis included 119 patients with advanced lung cancer, who were evaluated on 3 facets of physical activity over 14 days of using the amuelink wearable device from Sony: metabolic equivalent tasks, distance walked, and steps taken.

In this interview, Pat Van Burkleo, the executive director of Feeding Louisiana, the Louisiana Food Bank Association, discusses the outreach dynamics of the organization and food banks.

Investigators used the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General General Physical Wellbeing Scale to collect data on patient-reported treatment-related adverse effects, to provide clinicians guidance on predicting risk of early treatment discontinuation among ECOG-ACRIN E1A11 trial participants.

Investigators examined the downstream effect of single-gene testing for guideline-recommended biomarkers on comprehensive genomic profiling in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The approval follows fast track, orphan drug, and rare pediatric designations and an original Prescription Drug User Fee Act date of December 21, which the FDA pushed back to March 21 to have more time to review Italfarmaco’s application.

In this analysis, 3 bisphosphonates (alendronate, pamidronate, and zoledronic acid) and 1 RANK ligand inhibitor (denosumab) were evaluated for their effectiveness at preventing osteoclasts from facilitating jaw degradation and reducing vertebral fracture risk among patients being treated for multiple myeloma.

Overall rates for lung cancer screening remain low, despite the US Preventive Services Task Force revising its annual screening recommendation in 2021 by lowering the age of initial screening for current or former smokers and their pack-year history.

The approval makes atidarsagene autotemcel (arsa-cel [Lenmeldy]; Orchard Therapeutics) the first approved treatment for metachromatic leukodystrophy, a disease caused by a mutation in the ARSA gene and marked by progressive declines in both the central and peripheral nervous systems.

In a recent issue of JAMA, a team led by Benjamin N. Rome, MD, MPH, examined how the FDA’s accelerated approval process has moved 5 genetically targeted treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) through its pipeline despite limited evidence on their efficacy.

In this interview, Pat Van Burkleo, executive director of Feeding Louisiana, explains why food access initiatives are a top priority.

Since 2016, 5 targeted treatments have received accelerated approval from the FDA for use in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), and the total spend for just 3 of them is $3.1 billion.

March 1 saw the FDA grant full approval to amivantamab plus chemotherapy for first-line use in patients who have non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations, converting the May 2021 accelerated approval for this treatment in the second line.

Teclistamab (Tecvayli, Johnson & Johnson), a first-in-class bispecific T-cell–engaging antibody, is approved to treat relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma in the US.

Stress has potential links to worse outcomes in cancer, such as decreased quality of life and greater risks of disease progression and metastasis. There is a complex mix of emotions patients with cancer experience.

In this study, the 42-patient population was enrolled from 5 sites in Canada and 1 site in Scotland, and data were gathered from March 7, 2019, to January 12, 2022; all had interstitial lung disease (ILD) and early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Knowledge gaps persist in awareness of and education on the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for hematologic malignancies, especially multiple myeloma and lymphoma.

The authors of this report stress the importance of awareness of COVID-19–related complications in young patients who have Duchenne muscular dystrophy, paying particular attention to a potential higher risk of respiratory infections in these patients.

The approval converts the May 2021 accelerated FDA approval for second-line treatment of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations to a full approval in the first line following results from the phase 3 PAPILLON study.

The FDA recently approved the supplemental biologics license application for teclistamab (Tecvayli; Johnson & Johnson) to treat relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma on a biweekly dosing schedule.

Investigators were searching for answers to the question, “Does it matter if a vein- or artery-first approach is used when performing a robotic lobectomy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)?

With little data available on outcomes among patients who have B-cell lymphoma (BCL) and secondary central nervous system (CNS) involvement who were administered CD19-targeting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, these investigators enrolled 4 male patients in their study.

Outside of a gait laboratory, this investigation compared gait pattern differences between children who have Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and their typically developing counterparts to gain more real-world data of DMD-associated gait characteristics.

This most recent analysis from the CheckMate 9LA trial provides 4-year follow-up data on patients with stage IV metastatic/recurrent non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) randomized to treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab and chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone.

Teclistamab (Tecvayli) was first approved for use in patients who have relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) in October 2022, making it a first-in-class bispecific antibody.

Fabiola Molina, MD, MHS, is a practicing hospitalist and assistant professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Hospital. An immigrant from Mexico, her experiences straddling 2 worlds, while attempting to navigate with her family the complicated safety-net system for health care in Texas, were key influences to her ardent focus on health equity.

In this final part of our interview with James Robinson, PhD, MPH, he underscores the need for employer education about the health plans they offer, fostering managed competition among hospital systems to drive down costs, and innovation in financing drug development.

In part 3 of our interview with James Robinson, PhD, MPH, he discusses the need for reforms to commercial insurance that reflect the changes to Medicare under the Inflation Reduction Act, how the 340B drug pricing program has veered widely from its original goals, and ongoing cost sharing struggles among patients, insurers, hospitals, and drug companies.

Shauna Downs, PhD, MS, is an associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society, and Policy at the Rutgers School of Public Health. A former figure skater, her research now focuses on interventions to promote healthy and sustainable food choices and exploring how our changing climate, food systems, diet, and nutrition are inextricably linked.