Alana Hippensteele is lead editor at Pharmacy Times®, Contemporary Clinic, and Pharmacy Times Oncology Edition®. She has a master's in Critical Theory and Creative Research from Pacific Northwest College of Art and a bachelor's degree in English and Art History. She has worked as an English instructor at Temple University and held editorial positions at American Cleaning & Hygiene and Tin House.
Psilocybin, Ketamine, and MDMA in Cancer Care: Next Steps in Psychedelic Research
June 24th 2025Manish Agrawal, MD, explores the evolving role of pharmacists in psychedelic-assisted therapy, highlighting ongoing efforts to develop standardized protocols and the emerging involvement of pharmacy teams in patient education and safety.
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Psychedelic Group Therapy Expands From Cancer Care to Treat PTSD in Active Duty Military
June 23rd 2025Manish Agrawal, MD, discusses the expanding influence of his group-based psychedelic therapy model in oncology and beyond, highlighting its adaptation in military post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) research, the sustained benefits of long-term patient integration, and growing institutional interest in psychedelic-assisted therapy.
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OPC 2025: Key Studies Shaping Lung Cancer Therapy From ASCO 2025
June 20th 2025At the 2025 Oncology Pharmacists Connect (OPC) meeting, Kevin Chen, PharmD, MS, BCOP, CPP, reviewed several key studies from the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, highlighting significant advancements in the treatment of small cell and non–small cell lung cancer.
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OPC 2025: Early and Metastatic GI Cancers See Practice Changing Trial Results
June 20th 2025At the 2025 Oncology Pharmacists Connect (OPC) meeting, Courtney Cavalieri, PharmD, BCOP, presented clinical trial findings in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers—including colon, gastric, pancreatic, and metastatic colorectal cancer—that highlight the expanding role of immunotherapy and targeted treatments.
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OPC 2025: Advancing Precision Oncology Through Pharmacy-Led Innovation
June 19th 2025At the 2025 Oncology Pharmacists Connect (OPC) meeting, Mya Tran, PharmD, BCOP, highlights the clinical promise, operational challenges, and evolving role of pharmacists in implementing precision medicine and genomics-driven cancer care.
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Zahra Mahmoudjafari, PharmD, MBA, BCOP, FHOPA, Highlights Key Reasons to Attend OPC 2025
June 16th 2025Zahra Mahmoudjafari, PharmD, MBA, BCOP, FHOPA, co-chair of the 2025 Oncology Pharmacists Connect (OPC) meeting, discusses what makes the event unique, highlights key sessions, and shares her excitement for the educational and networking opportunities.
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Psychedelic Science 2025: Clinical Perspectives on Psychedelics in Palliative Oncology
June 16th 2025Manish Agrawal, MD, discusses emerging research on psychedelic-assisted therapy for patients with cancer, including innovative dyadic treatment models, challenges in capturing meaningful outcomes, and growing interest in integrating psychedelics into oncology and palliative care.
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Juan Ovalles, MD, PhD, discusses how high placebo response rates driven by background therapy complicate lupus drug trials, and outlines evolving strategies in trial design, clinical practice, and pharmacist-led care to ensure investigational biologics are fairly evaluated and appropriately used in systemic lupus erythematosus.
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ASCO 2025: Oncology Pathway Tools Show Consistent Usage Across Patient Groups
June 2nd 2025Laura Momoko Asakura, PharmD, BCOP, BCSPS, discusses the equitable use of oncology treatment pathway tools, highlighting that their utilization remains consistent across patient groups regardless of race, ethnicity, or insurance status.
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NLA 2025: Managing Omega-3 Therapy With Statins, PCSK9 Inhibitors for Cardiovascular Care
Published: June 2nd 2025 | Updated: June 11th 2025Frank Qian, MD, MPH, discusses the integration of omega-3 fatty acid therapy alongside statins and PCSK9 inhibitors in cardiovascular risk management, highlighting the distinct mechanisms of benefit and lack of significant drug interactions.
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NLA 2025: Bempedoic Acid Supports ASCVD Prevention and LDL-C Reduction
June 2nd 2025Bempedoic acid is an effective option for statin-intolerant patients or those needing additional low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) reduction, with clinical trials showing cardiovascular benefits, key drug-drug interaction considerations, and special management factors in patients with comorbidities.
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NLA 2025: The Earlier LDL Cholesterol Is Lowered, the Greater the Cardiovascular Risk Reduction
June 1st 2025Kausik K. Ray, MD, discussed the importance of early, aggressive, and sustained LDL-C lowering for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease prevention, highlighting that the magnitude of cardiovascular risk reduction is independent of the specific lipid-lowering therapy used.
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NLA 2025: Emerging Therapies Target Remnant Cholesterol to Address Residual Cardiovascular Risk
June 1st 2025Børge G. Nordestgaard, MD, DMSc, discussed the role of remnant cholesterol as an independent risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and the emerging therapies that may help manage residual cardiovascular risk beyond low-density lipoprotein cholesterol reduction.
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NLA 2025: Exploring the Evidence Behind Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Cardiovascular Risk
June 1st 2025Frank Qian, MD, MPH, discusses the clinical indications, dosing strategies, and cardiovascular outcomes data for prescription omega-3 fatty acids, including the ongoing debate about EPA vs EPA-DHA formulations and the implications of recent trial findings.
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NLA 2025: GLP-1 Therapies May Impact Cardiovascular and Renal Health Independent of Weight Loss
May 31st 2025GLP-1 receptor agonists, including semaglutide and tirzepatide, significantly reduce cardiometabolic risk factors such as dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, obstructive sleep apnea, chronic kidney disease, and cardiovascular events, with evidence suggesting that some of these benefits may occur independently of weight loss.
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NLA 2025: ApoC3 Inhibitors Show Promise Across a Spectrum of Hypertriglyceridemic Disorders
May 31st 2025Emerging therapies targeting apolipoprotein C-III (ApoC3) are demonstrating significant promise in lowering triglycerides and reducing cardiovascular risk for patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia and rare disorders, such as familial chylomicronemia syndrome.
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NLA 2025: The Complementary Roles of ANGPTL3 and ANGPTL4 in Lipid Regulation and Therapy
May 30th 2025Sander Kersten, PhD, discusses the distinct roles of ANGPTL3 and ANGPTL4 in lipid metabolism, their interactions with key enzymes, the therapeutic potential of targeting these pathways in lipid-lowering strategies, and important considerations for pharmacists counseling patients on emerging ANGPTL-targeted therapies.
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Helping Patients Navigate GLP-1 Therapy: Practical Strategies for Pharmacists
May 30th 2025Katherine H. Saunders, MD, DABOM, explores the role of pharmacists in supporting long-term weight management with GLP-1 therapies, including strategies for counseling on lifestyle interventions, managing adverse effects, and ensuring patients receive individualized, evidence-based care.
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ASCO 2025: Pretreatment DPYD Testing for Fluoropyrimidines Can Improve Patient Safety and Lower Cost
May 29th 2025Two abstracts from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting demonstrate that pretreatment DPYD genotyping improves the safety and cost-effectiveness of fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy, with oncology pharmacists playing a pivotal role in implementing and optimizing genotype-guided dosing strategies.
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HER2 and HER3 in NSCLC: The Latest ADC Data and NCCN Guideline Updates
May 29th 2025Corrine Stahura, PharmD, and Sophia Gilardone, PharmD, BCOP, discuss recent clinical trial data and evolving guideline recommendations for HER2- and HER3-directed antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), highlighting differences in efficacy, safety, and patient selection criteria.
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