Mary Caffrey

Regulatory and clinical updates.

Conference coverage updates from the Community Oncology Alliance's annual meeting.

Updates from the Association of Community Cancer Centers annual meeting.

Policy updates from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's annual meeting.

The scientists used machine learning to test the algorithm and believe it could double the number of women who would be treated with poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors for breast cancer.

Clinical updates from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's annual meeting.

Academic medical centers and a group representing community oncology practices have both raised concerns about CMS’ proposed reimbursement plan for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, the individually manufactured gene treatments that are revolutionizing cancer care. The plan will be finalized next month, a year after the federal government launched a national coverage analysis to determine how to pay for these lifesaving yet expensive cancer treatments.

Results of the landmark study, the first in a series of renal outcomes studies for SGLT2 inhibitors, will be of great interest to policy makers given the cost of dialysis to Medicare.

A preliminary study discussed how a vaccine regimen stimulated dendritic cells to attack tumors, which could point to a new way of making immunotherapy effective in cancers that have proved resistant to treatment thus far.

The filing comes as recent upgrades to NCCN guidelines expand the role of testing in the treatment of ovarian cancer.

The program comes as Congress has singled out the cost of insulin in its scrutiny of drug prices. Patients with type 1 diabetes cannot survive without the hormone, and press reports have highlighted the plight of young adults who ration insulin after they reach age 26 and cannot stay on family insurance plans.

The results come as US professional societies are updating primary prevention guidelines in cardiology.

Step therapy, which requires that patients try the payer’s preferred treatment before the one a physician recommends, is harmful to both sides of the doctor-patient relationship, according to Lee B. Schwartzberg, MD, medical director of the West Cancer and Research Institute, who spoke at the 2019 Community Oncology Conference, held in Orlando, Florida.

Healthcare experts may agree the shift from volume to value is well under way, but the definition of value has many answers, according to pharmaceutical company representatives discussing the issue at the 2019 Community Oncology Conference in Orlando, Florida.

At the Community Oncology Alliance's 2019 Community Oncology Conference in Orlando, Florida, a panel discussed strategies for practices to collaborate and survive the recent wave of consolidation. Targeting employers is one solution.

The first day of the 2019 Community Oncology Conference, the major annual meeting of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), featured an update on its effort to find alternatives to CMS' Oncology Care Model.

A new study in Health Affairs comes within a week of a federal ruling that found Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas and Kentucky failed to meet requirements of the 1965 law creating the program.

When the FDA approved Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre Flash continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system in September 2017, diabetes advocates hailed the move as long overdue and one that might lead to greater penetration of glucose monitoring technology for those with type 2 diabetes.

Increased transparency, value-based pricing, and other policy reforms are necessary to ensure that Americans can access medications at affordable prices, a panel of experts said during a US Senate hearing January 29, 2019.

In 2017, as advocates and researchers discussed the potential for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) to become a tool in clinical trials, most of the discussion involved testing in new therapies. The discussion culminated in an international consensus on CGM, published in December 2017, that included standards for assessing hypoglycemia in clinical trials.

A comprehensive genomic analysis of acute erythoid leukemia (AEL) found that 45% of patients had mutations in signaling pathways that drive uncontrolled cell growth, and evidence shows these leukemias may respond to existing precision treatments.

The revolution in cancer care isn’t just about the wave of life-saving therapies, or the role of genetics in pinpointing exactly who should get which drug and when. As Ray D. Page, DO, PhD, FACOI, tells it, change also means getting back to the basics, so that the relationship between doctor and patient drives care—not insurance companies or Medicare or rules from the FDA.

Nearly 3 years after UnitedHealthcare set off a firestorm among the type 1 diabetes (T1D) community by naming Medtronic its preferred supplier of insulin pumps for adults, a fresh wave of protest has erupted after the payer extended the pact to youth, starting at age 7. The change was announced in a UnitedHealthcare bulletin February 1, 2019.

Three years after results from a study in Diabetes Care revealed how flaws in CMS’ Competitive Bidding Program endangered Medicare patients who rely on supplies to test their blood glucose, the federal government has allowed contracts to expire for the dwindling number of suppliers, raising fears that the program for seniors with diabetes has reached the point of collapse.

A US District Court judge in Washington, DC, agreed with plaintiffs who argued that the HHS Secretary did not act reasonably in allowing states to create work requirements for beneficiaries to receive healthcare. Orders sending both state waivers back to HHS are expected today.

A presentation Saturday at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, outlined several key updates for treatment in ovarian cancer based on new studies and approvals for poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors and bevacizumab.

On the last day of the 2019 National Comprehensive Cancer Network Annual Conference, a thoracic oncologist and palliative care physician shared strategies and specific phrases for guiding end-of-life discussions that have been developed, tested, and studied at the University of Wisconsin.

As more cancer survivors live longer, the challenges increase for those responsible for coordinating care among primary care providers, specialists, and oncologists. The concept of survivorship continues to evolve to include life long after cancer treatment, according to updated guidelines from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.