July 2016

Patients with lung cancer who participated in a Web-based system for reporting and tracking their symptoms achieved dramatic gains in survival compared with individuals who were followed with typical protocols, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Data from the phase 3 METEOR trial presented at the 2016 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology showed that cabozantinib reduced the risk of death in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma by 34%, compared with everolimus.

During a health policy session at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Steven J. Katz, MD, MPH, discussed the Oncotype DX Breast Cancer Assay, and it's impact on recommendations for chemotherapy in early-stage breast cancer.

A study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology by a group from Israel that evaluated the price trend of 30 anticancer agents following their launch, found that prices may increase by as much as 44% even after adjusting for inflation.

Drug prices have developed into the fastest growing segment of healthcare costs and are a significant burden on the patient's wallet, in addition to the cost of healthcare services. An Education Session at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology discussed potential solutions to ease this problem.

A poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology evaluated the cost per median month of survival for daratumumab and other novel treatments for multiple myeloma.

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

Many patients, 65 years or younger, are still receiving aggressive cancer treatment in their final months of life despite Choosing Wisely recommendations encouraging symptom-directed palliative care.

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.

During a clinical session at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, researchers were tasked with sharing their data on any breakthroughs or leads with biomarkers for the new immunotherapies.

At the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, results were presented from a phase 1/2 trial in which patients with relapsed or refractory CD19+ B-cell malignancies were treated with CD19 CAR-T cells.

As immunotherapy-particularly the checkpoint inhibitors-continues to show promise in solid as well as liquid tumors, clinicians have been evaluating these agents in combination to improve efficacy and outcomes.

At the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held June 3-7, 2016, phase 1 data from the CheckMate 143 trial was presented during a poster session.

The Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) study has added its seventh and eighth pharmaceutical companies, Bayer and Merck, and 30 additional trial participants.