- Center on Health Equity & Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
Xalkori Shows Significant Benefit As First-Line in ALK-Positive NSCLC
The study, published in NEJM, found that PFS improved by nearly 4 months while ORR improved by nearly 30%.
Pfizer’s targeted cancer therapy Xalkori (crizotinib) significantly extended progression-free survival in previously-untreated patients with a particular form of non-small cell lung cancer taking part in a late-stage trial compared to chemotherapy alone.
Data from the Phase III PROFILE 1014 study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, showed that patients with ALK-positive advanced NSCLC given Pfizer’s kinase inhibitor had a median PFS of 10.9 months compared to 7 months for those in the chemotherapy arm. Also, the objective response rate was much higher at 74% versus 45%, the firm noted.
On the safety side, no unexpected issues arose in the trial, with the most commonly reported adverse events observed in the Xalkori being vision disorder (71%), diarrohea (61%), nausea (56%) and oedema (49%), and with chemotherapy, nausea (59%), fatigue (38%), vomiting (36%) and decreased appetite (34%).
Link to the complete article: http://bit.ly/1FQ1zCA
Source: PharmaTimes
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.
Listen
Physician-Pharmacy Integration in Cancer Care: Pillars of Medically Integrated Pharmacy
December 16th 2025The foundation of medically integrated pharmacy includes 7 critical pillars. This commentary focuses on the benefits of 3 of those pillars: abandonment, adherence, and access/affordability.
Read More
