Oncology

This month, Directions in Oncology Pharmacy® highlights a variety of ways that cancer care treatments are evolving, along with how practices are evolving, including best practices for the safety of health care workers such as oncology pharmacists.

The Pharmacy Times® SAP program builds a community of advocacy groups and medical associations and institutions to foster collaboration and an open exchange of information among trusted peers for the ultimate benefit of patients and their families.

Residency programs in specialty pharmacy are relatively new, emerging in response to dramatic growth in the specialty sector.

Researchers hope clinical trials will begin soon to evaluate oral LMTK3 inhibitors across cancer types.

The series concludes looking at the proposition that patients with rare and devastating disorders require and deserve a higher acuity of care and service that only an accredited rare pharmacy can deliver.

PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx will aid in the identification of patients with triple-negative breast cancer eligible for treatment with pembrolizumab.

Prescriptions for evidence-based cancer drugs increased under a pay-for-performance program without significantly impacting cost of care.

The newest indication is the first approval of pembrolizumab for breast cancer, according to Merck.

In the years following the passage of the Affordable Care Act, early-stage cancer diagnosis increased while late-stage fell.

Researchers analyzed the survey responses of more than 1400 current users of e-cigarette and related products from 18 to 64 years of age, evenly divided among male and female, who took part in a national online survey in 2016.

Devimistat is designed to be used in conjunction with other drugs to make cancer cells more sensitive to treatment.

In a trial, 91% of patients rated Sutab as very easy to tolerable to consume, and 78% said they would request Sutab again for a future colonoscopy.

Pharmacists and other medical experts also have a great opportunity to use social media to correct misconceptions, provide guidance, and steer patients toward credible sources.

The FDA approved FoundationOne Liquid CDx as a companion diagnostic with olaparib for certain patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Pharmacy Times® interviewed Petros Grivas, MD, PhD, associate professor at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a medical oncologist at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, on the work of the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium.

Patients recently diagnosed with cancer are significantly more likely to quit smoking and remain tobacco-free if they receive frequent phone counseling over an extended period of time.

A new breast cancer combination treatment may help patients with certain gene mutations, according to a study published in Molecular Cell.

A new device that delivers doses in tenths of a second rather than minutes may bypass adverse effects associated with traditional cancer radiation therapy.

Black women experience longer waiting periods before treatment is initiated than White women following a breast cancer diagnosis, as well as a prolonged treatment duration compared with White women.

Angiotensin receptor II blockers are often prescribed to control hypertension or for heart failure, kidney failure, or following a heart attack.

The United States Preventive Services Task Force updates recommends that colorectal cancer screening begin 5 years earlier, at age 45 instead of age 50.

Study to evaluate paclitaxel plus encequidar with dostarlimab +/- carboplatin in patients with breast cancer.

Data show that children with cancer who are experiencing neighborhood poverty and rely on public health insurance have an increased risk of death with stem cell treatment.

FDA lift clinical hold placed on the phase 1 PSMA-101-001 study of the chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy P-PSMA-101 in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

FDA approves the cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2 as a companion diagnostic for EGFR TKIs in the treatment of EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer.

The FDA granted priority review to a supplemental biologics license application for cemiplimab-rwlc for the frontline treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer.

Approximately 30% of women gain weight following chemotherapy for breast cancer, gut bacteria may be why.

The FDA granted priority review to a supplemental biologics license application for trastuzumab deruxtecan in patients with HER2-positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.