ASCO: American Society of Clinical Oncology

As practices participating in the Oncology Care Model progress in their practice transformation they run into some challenges, such as how to properly analyze claims data, and see early successes, such as improved patient experience, said Basit Chaudhry, MD, PhD, founder of Tuple Health.

Value frameworks aren't at an ideal point in their development, yet, but it is important to keep in mind that different frameworks represent different perspectives, said Scott Ramsey, MD, PhD, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

One of the kickoff sessions on the first day of the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, was a lively discussion on ensuring that the data used to inform patient care and create healthcare policies holds value.

A late afternoon extended education session on the first day of the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, was a discussion on the state-of-the-art uses for immunotherapy in the management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Checkpoint inhibitors have begun to revolutionize bladder cancer treatments, but the benefits in prostate cancer are a little less clear at this point, explained Daniel George, MD, of the Duke Cancer Insitute.

Analysis of data available within a national hospital-based registry showed that the diagnosis of stage I disease increased for female breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer following implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

According to the study, to be presented at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, vaccination resulted in an 88% overall reduction in vaccine-type infections and a 100% reduction among men, in the young adult population.

A group in Israel presented a study that evaluated the price trend of 30 anticancer agents following their launch, and found that prices may increase by as much as 44% even after adjusting for inflation.

A poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) found that the cost per median month of survival for daratumumab was lower compared with 2 other novel treatments in multiple myeloma.

With value frameworks still in their infancy, Michael Kolodziej, MD, national medical director for oncology strategy at Aetna, doesn't see how his company can use them just yet. In fact, these frameworks may never be used by insurers, but only for shared decision making between the patient and provider.

A session at the ongoing annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) provided an overview of ASCO's recently updated value framework and their quality program, the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative.

While several clinical trials have tried to identify a programmed death-1 or programmed death ligand-1 expression—dependent response, it’s been an uphill task. During one of the sessions at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, researchers were tasked with sharing their data on any breakthroughs or leads with biomarker-based treatment.

CancerCare provides oncology patients with many services that offer both educational and financial support as well as any help the patient may need with his or her family, such as child care and housekeeping needs. However, Patricia Goldsmith, CEO of CancerCare, explained that there are many financial challenges, including transportation and high out-of-pocket costs, that oncology patients continue to face.

The key to driving down costs, or at the very least making costs more predictable, is integrating pathways into the Oncology Care Model program, said John L. Fox, MD, MS, associate vice president of medical affairs at Priority Health.

Drug costs are a significant contributor to rising healthcare costs, along with the cost of healthcare services. How can providers and patients work together to find a solution to this problem?

During a session on the second day of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, experts discussed treating patients with chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T cells).

Though Cigna’s reimbursement medical home model is still in its very early stages, Bhuvana Sagar, MD, national medical director of Cigna Healthcare, explained that discussing value in healthcare and getting back to smarter spending as well as better outcomes for patients should be the focus of all industry stakeholders.

New immunotherapies and biologics that are changing the landscape when it comes to treating patients are the most exciting development in oncology in the last year, according to Lucio Gordan, MD, of Florida Cancer Specialists.

As immunotherapy continues to show promise in solid as well as liquid tumors, clinicians have been evaluating these agents in combination. During a session on the second day of the ongoing annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, in Chicago, IL, the results from some of these trials were shared.

On the first day of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, healthcare experts from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, compared and contrasted the care models that are widely adopted in each nation.

More than 400 comments were sent in regarding the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)'s Value Framework, and they will be incorporated as the framework evolves, explained Stephen Grubbs, MD, vice president for clinical affairs at ASCO.

One of the important findings from the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s report is that cancer mortality has gone down, said Debra Patt, MD, MPH, MBA, director of public policy at Texas Oncology.

Luis A. Diaz, Jr, MD, associate professor of oncology, Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, discovered that patients with high mutational burden with mismatched repair responded well to checkpoint inhibition of PD1.

Much-anticipated trial results were presented on the third day of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held in Chicago. These included phase 3 results from the CheckMate 067 trial and a phase 2 study with elotuzumab.

While the clinical data presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) created waves, a session on value had an equally significant impact as oncologists thronged to hear stakeholder voices define this, as yet abstract, concept of "value" in cancer care. The session brought together a patient representative, an oncologist, an ASCO representative, and a payer.

The Patient Advocate Program (PAF) serves patients with chronic, life threatening or debilitating diseases by providing direct financial support as well as case management support. Alan Balch, PhD, chief executive officer, PAF, explained that PAF guides their members through insurance systems when issues of access or affordability arise for the individual.

A late-breaking abstract session early on the second day of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology was reserved for the latest data from clinical trials evaluating the new immuno-oncology agents of the PD-1 inhibitor class.

Supporting shared decision making between cancer patients and oncologists starts with an understanding of what the physician's role is, explained Peter P. Yu, MD, FACP, FASCP, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and director of cancer research at Palo Alto Medical Foundation.

During the Health Services Research and Quality of Care session on the second day of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, being held at the McCormick Convention Center, Chicago, oncologists discussed barriers to patient participation in cancer clinical trials, and discussed attributes of the high cost of care.

The introduction of the immune regulatory checkpoint inhibitors and their impressive results is what John C. Morris, MD, professor of hematology and oncology at the University of Cincinnati, finds most exciting in the area of lung cancer immunotherapy.