Ansell Discusses Combination Potential in Hodgkin Lymphoma
July 20th 2018Steven M. Ansell, MD, PhD, discusses the efficacy of PD-L1 blockade in Hodgkin lymphoma, patient treatment that has encouraged him to look for deeper solutions, alternative drug combinations that appear to be making headway, and potential avenues of discovery for the future.
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US Versus European Opinions on Upfront Therapy in Hodgkin Lymphoma
July 20th 2018United States’ versus European perspectives on bleomycin in chemotherapy combinations for advanced Hodgkin lymphoma, along with the value of interim positron emission tomography, were discussed at the 2018 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference.
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Bleomycin Linked to High Rate of Pulmonary Disorders among Patients with Hodgkin Lymphoma
July 20th 2018A retrospective study of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma found high rates of sequelae including pulmonary events and cardiovascular disease following frontline treatment with chemotherapy including bleomycin.
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West Coast Study Rates Cancer Centers by Cost and Quality
July 17th 2018In a groundbreaking study of costs and quality of cancer care among cancer clinics in the state of Washington, investigators found wide disparity in end-of-life care, suggesting that improvements in cost and quality could be attained if treatment centers share information on what works and endeavor to improve.
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Oncology Groups Respond to CMS' Proposals for Payment Cuts
July 14th 2018The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed a slate of changes that would reduce payment for some forms of patient evaluation and management and reduce the payment margin over wholesale acquisition cost for Medicare Part B drugs.
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Colorectal Cancer Treatment Twice as Costly in US Than Canada, Despite Similar Outcomes
June 2nd 2018A study that compared costs of treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer in Western Washington and the province of British Columbia in Canada found that prices were more than twice as high for the US patients than for their Canadian counterparts, with no significant difference in outcomes.
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Alectinib Edge Over Crizotinib Supported by Patient-Reported Outcomes
April 12th 2018In findings consistent with earlier results on efficacy and adverse events reported for the phase III ALEX trial, investigators announced superior patient-reported outcomes for the next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor alectinib versus the standard of care TKI inhibitor crizotinib in ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer.
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Fresh Focus on Second Primary Cancers
April 5th 2018When investigators looked at roughly 150,000 cases of well-differentiated thyroid cancer using the SEER database of the National Cancer Institute, they knew that the use of radioactive iodine in conjunction with surgery and other treatments for thyroid cancer had increased dramatically over the years.
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Coping With the Shortage of Oncologists
April 4th 2018The shortage of doctors and other professionals to fill available positions in oncology practice is not news to practitioners—the American Society of Clinical Oncology has long chronicled the growing need for young oncologists to fill the ranks as senior ones retire or leave due to burnout.
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Neoadjuvant Endocrine Therapy Ideal for Some Breast Cancer Patients
March 11th 2018Endocrine therapy can achieve tumor reduction for patients with ER-positive breast cancer, possibly avoiding the need for chemotherapy or even surgery in some patients; however, deciding how long to continue this therapy can be tricky.
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AJCC Staging Manual Gives Boost to Precision Medicine
March 11th 2018The latest revision of the staging manual for breast cancer from the American Joint Committee on Cancer is a quantum leap toward precision oncology, as it codifies advanced knowledge of the role of biologic factors in cancer, and oncologists should now be using it.
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Frontline Palbociclib Effective Regardless of Prior Treatment in Breast Cancer Subgroups
March 9th 2018Palbociclib (Ibrance) demonstrated significant efficacy in combination with letrozole (Femara) in the frontline setting of estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative, postmenopausal metastatic breast cancer.
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Docetaxel Adds to QALY in Advanced Prostate Disease
February 6th 2018The addition of docetaxel (Taxotere) to frontline long-term hormone therapy for advanced prostate cancer improved quality of life and reduced the need for subsequent therapy, contributing to lower overall costs in the nonmetastatic setting.
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