During this segment, Daniel J. George, MD, and Jeffrey Weber, MD, PhD, explore recently approved immunotherapy agents for the treatment of cancer.
Dr George briefly explains how sipuleucel-T and ipilimumab utilize the body’s immune system to fight disease. Dr George continues by explaining how these agents have demonstrated improvements in survival for patients with prostate cancer and melanoma. Furthermore, when looking at the expensive costs of treatment, the benefits make therapy more of an “investment” than an expense.
Dr Weber explains that sipuleucel-T is a vaccine, while ipilimumab is a checkpoint protein inhibitor. Then, he discusses the differences between these agents and how they work.
As Dr George and Dr Weber examine the safety profiles of each of these treatment options, the doctors address the importance of managing corresponding treatment side effects and adverse events, and recognize the need to control the high costs of treatment.
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April 11th 2025This study found no evidence that hospital employment of physicians resulted in physicians treating sicker patients, undercutting claims that hospital-employed physicians serve a higher-acuity patient mix.
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Varied Access: The Pharmacogenetic Testing Coverage Divide
February 18th 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with the author of a study published in the February 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® to uncover significant differences in coverage decisions for pharmacogenetic tests across major US health insurers.
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NCCN Data Find Racial, Socioeconomic Disparities in Quality of Care for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer
April 9th 2025New data from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) reveal that socially vulnerable and minority patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer are less likely to receive recommended treatments and achieve longer survival.
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