Advanced Practitioners Improve Oncology Care Value
January 12th 2020The aging of the baby boomer population and the growing number of cancer survivors have created a huge demand for oncology treatment services. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has compounded the need by ratcheting up standards for value-based care. To handle these additional needs, many oncology practices now turn to advanced practice providers, typically nurse practitioners or physician assistants, who are highly trained and capable of taking over many of the routine functions of the oncology clinic.
Role of Immunotherapy Agents Grows in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
January 11th 2020The standard of care in the second line for patients with mismatch repair–deficient metastatic colorectal cancer has shifted to favor therapy utilizing immunotherapeutic agents, according to Howard Hochster, MD.
SITC Poised to Expand Toolkit of Immunotherapy Guidelines
January 11th 2020The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer is developing a growing menu of guidelines with treatment algorithms for specific cancer types to help practicing oncologists navigate the appropriate use of this emerging modality.
Experts Take Stock of Frontline Immunotherapy Combos in NSCLC
January 9th 2020During an OncLive Peer Exchange program, an international panel of lung cancer experts provided perspective on key findings regarding various immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) combinations and data concerning potential biomarkers of response to ICIs in non–small cell lung cancer.
Zanubrutinib Faces Off Against Ibrutinib in CLL Trial
January 8th 2020Armed with the knowledge that inhibition of the Bruton tyrosine kinase is an effective approach in B-cell malignancies, investigators will explore the efficacy of the second-generation BTK inhibitor, zanubrutinib, in 2 leukemia and lymphoma subtypes.
Patient Tragedy Inspires Program Focused on Immune-Related Toxicities
January 8th 2020The advent of immunotherapy options to treat patients with cancer has brought with it a new wave of immuno-related toxicities. One institution, Massachusetts General Hospital, has taken steps to establish an immunotherapy toxicity service care team, inspired by a 65-year-old patient with metastatic melanoma that had spread to his lungs and brain.
Success Breeds a Need for Oncology Trials That Tackle Real-World Questions
December 30th 2019Placing the results of a single trial in the context of real-world, everyday practice is increasingly difficult because of the number of available options and the absence of studies that directly compare individual strategies.
Pazdur Followed the Pathway of Greatest Resistance to the FDA
December 30th 2019Richard Pazdur, MD, set out to be a leader in medicine and a teacher of doctors. He achieved that and more, turning the oncology drugs section of the FDA from a poorly understood and lead-footed division into a fast-moving and patient-responsive entity.