Oncology

All stakeholders in the health care continuum should always remember that there is a person at the end of their businesses who depends on them to survive and have a high quality of life.

On February 6, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed a rebate rule, Fraud and Abuse; Removal of Safe Harbor Protection for Rebates Involving Prescription Pharmaceuticals and Creation of New Safe Harbor Protection for Certain Point-of-Sale Reductions in Price on Prescription Pharmaceuticals and Certain Pharmacy Benefit Manager Service Fees.

If you want to be a player in specialty pharmacy, oncology is the place to be.

Welcome to the ninth annual Specialty Pharmacy Times oncology issue, in which we focus on the challenges and progress associated with treating cancer in the specialty space.

An analysis showed short-term health plans can expose enrollees to significant out-of-pocket costs for serious illnesses, such as cancer.

Study explored a novel drug’s efficacy in overcoming ibrutinib-resistant mantle cell lymphoma.

Top news of the day from across the health care landscape.

The approval of venetoclax (Venclexta) in combination with obinutuzumab (Gazyva) offers an additional option for adults with previously-untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

The FDA’s Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee challenged the results of the phase 3 QuANTUM-R study.

Avelumab (Bavencio) plus axitinib (Inlyta) is indicated for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

Procedure uses small incisions and a miniature video camera to reduce the risk of complications from surgery for lung cancer.

Kaposi sarcoma is a cancer caused by an associated herpesvirus that develops from the cells that line lymph or blood vessels, and most commonly affects individuals with HIV.

Pomalidomide (Pomalyst, Celgene) showed clinical benefit in patients with Kaposi sarcoma, regardless of HIV status.

Lisa Holle, PharmD, BCOP, FHOPA, associate clinical professor at the University of Connecticut, discusses recent key trials involving non-metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer.

From 2018 to 2040, the number of patients who will need chemotherapy each year is estimated to rise from 9.8 million to 15 million.

Ramucirumab (Cyramza, Eli Lilly) is approved as a single agent in patients with elevated alpha fetoprotein who have been previously treated with sorafenib.

This product is a generic version of Genentech's Tarceva.

Top news of the week from Specialty Pharmacy Times.

Study finds the number of patients who are eligible for and may respond to checkpoint inhibitor therapies is higher than for genome-driven therapies.

Eighty-three percent of physicians excising more-than-necessary amounts of tissue on a regular basis during Mohs micrographic surgery.

Top news of the day from across the health care landscape.

Matt Farber, MA, Senior Director of Patient Care and Advocacy at Walgreens discusses some of the ways that Walgreens is advancing care for patients with cancer.

Treatment with tagraxofusp yielded high response rates in patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm.

Using genetic testing for women newly diagnosed with breast cancer can decrease the high cost of chemotherapy use in the first year of care.

A certain type of DNA rearrangement that is rarely tested for may be a predictor of prognosis in multiple myeloma.

Ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla) is currently the only antibody-drug conjugate approved for the treatment of HER2-positive early and metastatic breast cancer.

Matt Farber, MA, Senior Director of Patient Care and Advocacy at Walgreens, talks about the growing role of specialty pharmacies in delivering cancer care.

Lisa Holle, PharmD, BCOP, FHOPA, associate clinical professor at the University of Connecticut, explains the importance of patient-provider communication during the 2019 Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association conference in Fort Worth, Texas.

Matt Farber, MA, Senior Director of Patient Care and Advocacy at Walgreens provided insight into new areas of technology that pharmacists can use to help improve care when treating patients with cancer.

Matt Farber, MA, Senior Director of Patient Care and Advocacy at Walgreens, discussed the role of specialty pharmacists in working to manage the cost burden of cancer care.