Vol. 21/No. 9

In an era of value-based care, the ability to triage the needs of patients with cancer who are most likely to experience significant difficulties is becoming a priority for community oncology practices and hospital systems.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology and College of American Pathologists have further refined their recommendations for estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor testing protocols in patients with breast cancer.

The past 2 decades have been transformative for the treatment of non–small cell lung cancer; two-thirds of patients have been found to harbor molecular drivers, and a growing proportion of these are now targetable with FDA-approved drugs.

Hoping to minimize the off-target effects associated with radiation in patients with oropharyngeal cancer, investigators are testing the hypothesis that intensitymodulated proton therapy can deliver doses as effectively as the current standard of care with less damage to surrounding tissue.

With travel restrictions and reduced transportation options, the global spread of coronavirus disease 2019 has disrupted international networks that supply patients with biological materials needed for sophisticated hematologic therapies.

Although fewer patients are undergoing cytoreductive nephrectomy as systemic treatments for renal cell carcinoma improve, the modality still has a vital role to play in the treatment paradigm—even in the modern age of immune checkpoint inhibitors.

During a recent OncLive Peer Exchange®, a panel of hematologic cancer experts discussed several novel treatments that are changing the relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma treatment landscape, including Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors, BTK combinations, and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy.

Given the national push for value-based care, oncology practices such as Minnesota Oncology are modifying their treatment models to better coordinate care not only with patients but also with referring physicians.

Brian Van Tine, MD, PhD, discusses what tazemetostat’s approval brings to the treatment landscape for patients with epithelioid sarcoma.

Investigators at Montefiore showed that axicabtagene-ciloleucel can be used successfully in ethnically diverse patients with high-risk, relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma at an inner-city hospital.

Although the standard of care for muscle-invasive bladder cancer is well established, not enough patients are being treated with curative intent.

What was simply unimaginable just a few weeks earlier regarding the potential impact of an infectious illness in the United States on jobs, schools, the economy, and personal and family safety has become a stream of daily pronouncements about the severity of the pandemic and how best to respond.