Oncology

Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have developed a new tool to measure the impact of social networks on the coping skills of adolescent and young adult cancer survivors.

Patients who had breast cancer or lymphoma who were treated more than 3 times are more likely to develop congestive heart failure than those who did not have cancer, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 67th Annual Scientific Session.

This week, the top managed care stories included Cigna's deal to buy Express Scripts; Seema Verma, Alex Azar, and Scott Gottlieb, MD, made the rounds at health conferences; an analysis finds FDA's accelerated approval pathway has been a success with hematology and oncology drugs.

Care coordination is vital to ensure improved patient outcomes as both CMS and private payers are paying increased attention to it, pointed out Adam Brufsky, MD, PhD, co-director of the Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center at University of Pittsburgh. How is your institution infusing care coordination in its workflow?

Reviewing 25 years of experience with accelerated approvals (AAs) for malignant hematology and oncology drugs and biologics, FDA officials say that the AA program has demonstrated that it can be used successfully to expedite approval of safe, effective cancer therapies that balance uncertainty with the need to provide faster access to promising agents for serious and life-threatening diseases.

Proprietary technology helps overcome the problem of long travel distances for those taking part in clinical trials.

The FDA has authorized, with special controls, the first direct-to-consumer test that reports on 3 specific BRCA1/BRCA2 breast cancer gene mutations that are most common in people of Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish descent.

Hospitals that used trained financial navigators were able to provide financial assistance for their patients with cancer, providing access to care that would otherwise be unaffordable.

Researchers have identified a molecular target that could allow chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy to be used in treating patients with glioblastoma. Although the heterogeneous expression of tumor-associated antigens limits the efficacy for CAR-redirected T cells for the treatment of glioblastoma, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 (CSPG4), a cell surface type 1 transmembrane protein, is highly expressed in a majority of glioblastoma specimens with limited heterogeneity.

The first results of the Oncology Care Model (OCM), a 5-year bundled payment demonstration from CMS, were released recently, and at a session at the National Community Oncology Dispensing Association Spring Forum 2018, Mike Fazio of Archway Health discussed the reconciliation statements from the first performance period of OCM, and where practices can look to make improvements going forward.

As cancer treatments improve and death rates decline, more patients survive who are at risk of becoming addicted to pain medications they were prescribed to treat their cancer-related pain, explained Merrill Norton, PharmD, NCAC II, CCS, CCDP-D, of the University of Georgia.

Patients with cancer, many who are older and on Medicare, are finding their medications are becoming unaffordable, Michele McCourt, senior director of the CancerCare Co-Payment Assistance Foundation, explained at the Cost-Sharing Roundtable, co-hosted by the Patient Access Network Foundation and The American Journal of Managed Care®.

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

K. Robin Yabroff, PhD, strategic director, Surveillance and Health Services Research Program, American Cancer Society, would like to see more longitudinal studies that can develop more informed policies to alleviate patient financial hardship. Yabroff was speaking at the Cost-Sharing Roundtable co-hosted by the Patient Access Network Foundation and The American Journal of Managed Care®.

Being proactive about identifying potential financial burdens and preparing patients who have a disease for the costs of their treatment helps to ensure that patients will be adherent to their medication and have the best possible outcomes, according to a panel of providers at the Cost-Sharing Roundtable, co-hosted by the Patient Access Network Foundation and The American Journal of Managed Care®.

This week, the top managed care stories included a bipartisan group of governors releasing an outline for health reform; a report finds value-based contracts brings down prescription drug co-pays; 20 states file a lawsuit over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the healthcare and mainstream press.

Shifting provisions of infused chemotherapy from physician offices to hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs) is increasing; however spending for commerical insurers was lower for patients treated in physician offices compared with HOPDs, according to a research letter in JAMA Oncology.

Coverage of updates in value from Patient-Centered Oncology Care, November 16-17, 2017.

Coverage of value updates from Patient-Centered Oncology Care, November 16-17, 2018.

Coverage of value updates from Patient-Centered Oncology Care, November 16-17, 2018.

Coverage of patient-centered care updates from Patient-Centered Oncology Care, November 16-17, 2017.

Coverage of patient-centered care from Patient-Centered Oncology Care, November 16-17, 2017.

Coverage of patient-centered care updates from Patient-Centered Oncology Care, November 16-17, 2017.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) really makes a difference when studying men who’ve had a negative prostate biopsy, but their prostate-specific antigen goes up overtime or something changes and there’s a continuing concern for prostate cancer, said Christopher Kane, MD, professor of urology, University of California, San Diego.

A special issue of Evidence-Based Oncology™ provides full coverage of the conference, which The American Journal of Managed Care® presented November 16-17, 2017, in Philadelphia.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Center (NCCN) has released new NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology to help ensure that people living with HIV who are diagnosed with cancer receive safe and necessary treatment.

Coverage of regulatory changes from Patient-Centered Oncology Care, November 16-17, 2017.

Coverage of regulatory changes from Patient-Centered Oncology Care, November 16-17, 2017.

Coverage of regulatory changes from Patient-Centered Oncology Care, November 16-17, 2017.