Oncology

The Affordable Care Act will expand coverage and may open the door to elevated roles for pharmacists, former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala argued in a speech at the Miami Breast Cancer Conference.

The FDA approved Kadcyla (ado-trastuzumab emtansine), a new therapy for patients with HER2-positive, late-stage (metastatic) breast cancer.

Specialty Pharmacy Times announces the addition of a new department, Oncology Trends. This section will focus on the management of oncology medications under the pharmacy and medical benefits, clinical pathways, pharmacogenomic and companion testing, and clinical practice guidelines in oncology.

Specialty Pharmacy Times spoke with Dr. Neubauer to discuss the intricacies of clinical pathways, including how to reconcile a drug's cost and benefits, the importance of making evidence-based decisions, when to deviate from recommended treatment pathways, and why he thinks all health plans should pay for the routine costs of clinical trials.

A test of combinations of hundreds of agents, including statins, on metastatic melanoma cells found a number of combinations that showed promise.

Kurtis Reed, MD, discusses the results of his study on the incidence of melanoma among young adults.

The Arizona Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Avella Specialty Pharmacy announce they will present a day of discussion about the latest advancements, trends, and management of oral chemotherapy medications on February 9, 2013.

Aetna and Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions announced today an evidence-based program designed to improve cancer care in Michigan.

The FDA today expanded the approved use of Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) to treat men with late-stage (metastatic) castration-resistant prostate cancer prior to receiving chemotherapy.

The deal with GlaxoSmithKline to develop an MD Anderson discovery draws on the expertise of the Institute for Applied Cancer Science.

The adoption of clinical pathways helps to standardize the cancer care process, and this practice is becoming increasingly popular.

By prescribing clinically similar luteinizing hormone–releasing hormone agonists for the treatment of prostate cancer, Medicare could have saved 13% of its total budget for monthly injections, according to a study from the Office of the Inspector General.

Two drugs under review by the FDA-dabrafenib and trametinib-seem to slow development of treatment resistance in patients with metastatic malignant melanoma.

At a meeting hosted by the American Journal of Managed Care, key figures in the managed care industry discussed innovative payment models being utilized by payers and providers.

At a meeting hosted by the American Journal of Managed Care, key figures in the managed care industry discussed innovative payment models being utilized by payers and providers.

Sanofi slashed the price of colorectal cancer drug Zaltrap (ziv-aflibercept) in half after 2 oncologists from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center publicly balked at the drug's $11,000 price tag in an op-ed in The New York Times.

A study of male physicians 50 years of age and older found modest but significant reduction in cancer rates associated with daily multivitamin use.

In a session at the 2012 Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Educational Conference, Aimee Tharaldson, PharmD, identified the top specialty drugs in the pipeline and highlighted the most recent therapeutic trends within each medication class.

Celgene Corporation today announced the FDA has approved Abraxane (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin-bound) as a first-line treatment for locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, in combination with carboplatin, in patients who are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation therapy.

Melanoma accounts for just 5% of skin cancer cases, but 3 times as many deaths as all non-melanoma skin cancers combined.

The app for iPhone and iPad allows users to use whole body photography to track moles that may develop into melanoma.

A T-cell usually associated with allergies and asthma may be effective in fighting melanoma, according to the results of a recent study.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a genetic test to help predict survival odds for patients with ocular melanoma.

Combination therapy with the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib and immunotherapy appears to produce improved results in a mouse model.

Compounds extracted from strawberries demonstrated an ability to protect cell culture against DNA damage from ultraviolet radiation, raising the possibility that they could help produce creams to protect against melanoma and other skin cancers.