Oncology

Panel Discussion led by Seema Sonnad,PhD, that saw participation from ASCO's president Peter Paul Yu, MD; Jennifer Malin, MD, PhD, from WellPoint; Chadi Nabhan, MD, FACP, from the University of Chicago; and I.W. Tischler, MD, from Cigna.

Commentary

The cost regulator for the NHS in England and Wales has said that Celgene's Revlimid should be an option for treating patients with a particular form of myelodysplastic syndromes.

Peter Paul Yu, MD, FASCO, who this summer became president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, shared how the group is leading the discussion of what constitutes value in cancer care, as well as the need to engage all stakeholders in this critical topic.

Combining nab-paclitaxel with nivolumab is expected to have a synergistic effect in the various tumor types to be targeted, while providing Celgene access to the immunooncology race.

The trials will evaluate the efficacy of erlotinib or crizotinib in preventing lung cancer recurrence, as well as survival, in patients carrying mutations in either EGFR or ALK, who are clinically free of the disease.

Guidelines, such as those developed by the Children's Oncology Group, can prove a useful resource to monitor and/or treat adults who have previously been treated for a pediatric cancer.

The two studies, published in the August issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, examine the pros and cons of the current cancer screening methodologies.

The writer asks: is more information better, even if we don't understand what it means?

The study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, observed poor survival at the end of the follow-up period in men carrying the mutation, compared to non-carriers.

The analysis recommends conducting the PSA test in those less than 70 years of age, to avoid overdiagnosis while reducing death by at least 50%.

ASCO and AACR want to see stricter regulation of the products, touching various aspects such as flavors, child-proofing, refills etc.

The final decision on the proposal will be made only after a 30-day comment period.

Both, the scientific community and a charitable organization, Prostate Cancer UK, have criticized the drug approval body for not offering abiraterone to sufferers until after chemotherapy.

The study, published in Lancet, reaffirms that being obese and overweight can be a major health burden and can lead to various other diseases.

Kyprolis failed to improve survival in the phase 3 FOCUS trial in patients who had relapse following at least 3 prior regimens.

Scientists at Hopkins are working on developing a test that can rapidly sequence cellular DNA in a blood sample for early diagnosis of cancer, which could have a tremendous potential in asymptomatic subtypes of the disease.

CMS provided COA a draft of an episode-based payment model being developed at their Innovation Center. COA has been in collaboration with CMS on developing this model.

The gene, normally expressed only in a developing embryo, was found expressed in several different childhood cancers.

With the aim to authenticate and regulate medical information, Cancer Research UK plans to provide the most up-to-date and accurate healthcare information.

Cologuard had received recommendation for premarket approval from a FDA advisory panel back in March.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, examined national statistics for the period between 2007 to 2010 for people aged 18-64 of age.