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Dr Joe O'Sullivan: Numerous Prostate Cancer Therapies Is a Challenge for Clinical Trials
Having numerous therapies to treat prostate cancer can actually be a bad thing—it makes it difficult to design clinical trials for new therapies coming into the space, explained Joe O'Sullivan, MD, FRCR, clinical professor, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University Belfast.
Having numerous therapies to treat prostate cancer can actually be a bad thing—it makes it difficult to design clinical trials for new therapies coming into the space, explained Joe O'Sullivan, MD, FRCR, clinical professor, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University Belfast.
What are the challenges you see with translating new scientific discoveries into clinical practice?
The biggest challenge in prostate cancer right now is a problem we didn’t have 10 years ago, which is we have too many drug therapies. Well, not that we have too many drug therapies, but it’s hard for new drug therapies to come in and compete for space. So, in fact, if we’re designing a clinical trial, especially a randomized clinical trial, it’s now very difficult to think: what would be the control arm? Both in hormone-sensitive and castration-resistant prostate cancer.
I guess we’re a victim of our own success. We have too many therapies, so a very big challenge now, especially for a new therapy, is [that] to prove overall survival benefit is very, very difficult. And this is why we have to depend on genetic understanding of the patient’s tumors to direct our therapy better. Because the one-size-fits-all therapy, that era is hopefully gone. And a more personalized approach based on the patient’s tumor characteristics and their own mutations will help us, I think, direct treatment more appropriately to the right patients. And that will, in turn, help us to design better and smarter clinical trials.
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Exploring Racial, Ethnic Disparities in Cancer Care Prior Authorization Decisions
October 24th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the author of a study published in the October 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® that explored prior authorization decisions in cancer care by race and ethnicity for commercially insured patients.
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Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
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How Pharmacy Deserts, Biosimilars, and Market Trends Are Shaping Managed Care
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Using AI-Driven Strategies to Optimize Specialty Drug Costs, Manage Polypharmacy
April 2nd 2025As health care costs continue to rise, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven solutions are emerging as a powerful tool for managing specialty drug spending and polypharmacy risks, as showcased in recent research presented at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy 2025 conference.
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