Smoking Cessation Programs Need a Boost Under Medicaid Expansion
December 9th 2016The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report recommends that Medicaid expansion states should direct more attention to smoking cessation programs to improve access and raise awareness about these programs among beneficiaries and providers.
Who Will Lead the FDA Under the Trump Administration?
December 8th 2016Two names are being floated as likely replacements for the current FDA commissioner: Scott Gottlieb, MD, a resident scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, and Jim O’Neill, a managing director at Mithril Capital, a global investment firm.
ASCO Makes Recommendations to Reduce Cardiac Risk in Survivors of Adult-Onset Cancers
December 7th 2016A panel of 21 expert clinicians from the field conducted a systematic review of meta-analyses randomized clinical trials, observational studies, and clinical experience, to develop recommendations that have been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Innovative Approach to Precision Trial Design: NCI-MATCH and Beat AML
December 5th 2016Representatives from the Beat acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and National Cancer Institute-Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (NCI-MATCH), which incorporate genomic profiling to assign patients to different treatment arms, provided an insight on trial design and a progress report.
RESONATE-2 Continues to Impress With Single-Agent Ibrutinib for CLL/SLL at 29 Months
December 5th 2016Older patients diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) continue to present a favorable response to single-agent ibrutinib, at a follow-up of 29 months, in phase 3 of the RESONATE-2 trial.
ASH Symposium on Quality Addresses Health IT Challenges for the Provider and the Patient
December 4th 2016The Special Symposium on Quality at the 58th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition, looked at how health information technology can be utilized to improve healthcare quality, enhance patient-provider shared decision-making, and facilitate efforts in quality research.
Phase 3 LyMa Trial: Rituximab After ASCT Improves OS in Mantle Cell Lymphoma
December 4th 2016Phase 3 results from the LyMa trial show that rituximab maintenance therapy after autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) prolongs event-free survival, progression-free survival, and overall survival (OS) in previously untreated young patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).
Genomic Changes Ensure Chemotherapy Response in Testicular Cancer
December 2nd 2016Research from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute, published in Nature, has identified genomic changes that could explain the development of testicular cancer and why this disease is more responsive to chemotherapy.
Precision CAR-T Trial Shows Early Signs of Success in Multiple Myeloma
December 1st 2016Interim data analysis of a phase 1 trial of chimeric antigen receptor-T cells (CAR-T) targeting the B-cell maturation antigen in heavily pretreated patients with multiple myeloma has identified an objective anti-tumor response, with limited toxicity.
House Committee to Scrutinize the Working of USPSTF
November 30th 2016The House Energy and Commerce Committee's subcommittee on health will gather testimonial from leaders of the US Preventive Services Task Force, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Urologic Association, on a bill called H.R. 1151.
Hospitalization a Major Burden on Medicare Beneficiaries With Cancer
November 29th 2016A nationally representative study among patients enrolled in Medicare, who were diagnosed with cancer, found that out-of-pocket costs averaged at 23.7% of their household income. A majority of these costs could be attributed to hospitalization.
ASCO Framework Can Help Providers Assess Clinical Pathway Programs
November 29th 2016The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has released the Criteria for High-Quality Clinical Pathways in Oncology, which is expected to help providers assess the quality, utility, and integrity of pathway programs in the United States.
21st Century Cures Set for a Midweek House Vote
November 28th 2016With $372 million carved out for the National Institutes of Health innovation account in 2017, and about $114 million assigned to President Barack Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative for the fiscal year 2018, the 21st Century Cures Act has a lot at stake for healthcare in the United States.
PCOC16: Integrating Patient-Centered Outcomes in APMs
November 23rd 2016At the 5th annual Patient-Centered Oncology Care® meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, moderator Bruce Feinberg, DO, was joined by a care provider, a payer, and a community oncology representative to discuss efforts that maintain the patient at the core of payment models.
PCOC16: Unraveling the Value in Oncology Care for the Payer
November 22nd 2016At the 5th annual Patient-Centered Oncology Care® meeting, Roy Beveridge, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Humana, walked the audience through the healthcare world’s transition to value-based care and explained why payers have faith in this transition.
Catching Them Early: Outreach Program Could Avert HCC in Cirrhosis Patients
November 21st 2016A prospective trial that reached out to patients with cirrhosis to undergo an ultrasound screen found that the outreach effort doubled the percentage of patients who were screened for hepatocellular carcinoma.
PCOC16: Immunoâ€Oncology Agents in a World of Precision Medicine
November 21st 2016At the 5th annual meeting of Patient-Centered Oncology Care®, hosted by The American Journal of Managed Care, November 17-18 in Baltimore, Maryland, experts with diverse experiences and backgrounds discussed the contradiction presented by immuno-oncology agents in the world of precision medicine.
ICU Admission Reduces Survival, Augments Costs Among Patients With AML
November 17th 2016A study published by researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle has found that admission to the intensive care unit reduced survival and increased the cost of care among patients undergoing treatment for acute myeloid leukemia.
Addressing the Psychosocial Needs in Older Breast Cancer Patients
November 17th 2016A study conducted in Canada to estimate the prevalence of psychotropic and opioid medication use by older women diagnosed with breast cancer found a significant increase in use, especially during the active treatment phase.
Combining IORT With Chemotherapy Improves Survival in Pancreatic Cancer
November 15th 2016A new study conducted at the Massachusetts General Hospital evaluated the impact of intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT), along with induction chemotherapy and chemo-radiotherapy, in patients with advanced disease, and observed hints of success.