Oncology

The study aimed to analyze whether age, gender, socioeconomic factors, comorbidity, and medication may affect the risk of lung cancer in patients with COPD.

Although precision medicine holds promise for advanced cancer care, many oncologists indicated challenges in the adoption of new, targeted therapies.

Data revealed at ASCO shows combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq), bevacizumab (Avastin), carboplatin, and paclitaxel reduced the risk of death by 22% compared with bevacizumab and chemotherapy.

In a study presented at ASCO, Cemiplimab shows substantial activity and durable responses with an acceptable safety profile in treatment of metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

Rituximab (Rituxan) and lenalidomide (Revlimid) showed similar efficacy to rituximab plus chemotherapy, according to findings presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Pegilodecakin (AM0010) with nivolumab (Opdivo) or pembrolizumab (Keytruda) induced an overall response rate in 41% in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer, according to findings presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual meeting.

Moxetumomab pasudotox is a nonchemotherapeutic drug that could become the standard of care for patients with relapsed/refractory hairy cell leukemia.

Durvalumab, an FDA-approved immunotherapy, met its second primary endpoint of overall survival in the phase 3 PACIFIC trial for stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer.

In response to the increasing incidence of colorectal cancer in young and middle-aged individuals, the American Cancer Society has updated its screening recommendations.

Matthew Hughes, director of Business Development for the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC), discusses HIV and oncology distinction programs and how these standards bring patients, physicians, and pharmacists together to align care.

Patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who were treated with inotuzumab ozogamicin (InO) indicated better quality of life, functioning, and symptom scores compared with patients receiving standard-of-care chemotherapies.

Researchers have identified a gene associated with the body’s circadian rhythm that may play a role in the development of breast cancer.

Two studies assessed prostate specific antigen (PSA) progression in patients treated with apalutamide (Erleada, Janssen) and the association between PSA doubling time and survival.

Researchers compared lung cancer care and outcomes, including patient characteristics, stage of cancer at diagnosis, treatment, and overall survival of patients in the United States and England.

Rucaparib, an (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor approved for the treatment of ovarian cancer, may have potential clinical benefit for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer and a BRCA1/2 mutation.

Officials with the FDA alerted health care professionals about reduced efficacy for some patients taking pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and atezolizumab (Tecentriq) for metastatic urothelial cancer in ongoing clinical trials.

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

At the National Community Oncology Dispensing Association's (NCODA) 2018 Spring Summit, Julianne Orr, PharmD, from Indiana University Health Simon Cancer Center, discusses the pharmacist's role in managing adherence to oral treatment regimens for patients with cancer.

Although nearly every state has some type of rule governing coverage of oncology drugs, the question that continually pops up is whether these rules matter when it comes to formulary inclusion.

CAR T-cell immunotherapy is being hailed as the fifth pillar of cancer treatment.

Specialty pharmacists need to fully understand capecitabine’s place in colorectal cancer treatment to ensure that it is safely and effectively utilized.

The high-level monitoring required for self-managing patients with cancer becomes a challenge when patients are seen less frequently by their provider.

Market access and health care professionals must work to find the balance to provide solid treatment for cancer without burdening the system to a point of collapse.

Oncology economics is the product of driving forces in the health insurance market that are intrinsic to oncology in managed care and unlikely to change.

There is an ongoing shift toward many cancer types being treated as maintenance diseases, which places a significant financial burden not only on patients, but also payers and providers within the health care industry.

Health care providers—including physicians, oncologists, and specialty pharmacists—must leverage their collective resources and expertise to work together to address adherence on a larger scale. 

Following their approval, anti–PD-1 agents reach a significant proportion of patients within a few months, according to new study findings.