Oncology

The George Washington University Cancer Institute has finalized 45 core competency statements for oncology patient navigators, who have become critical members of the health care team.

Investigators tried to validate a previously reported molecular finding on triple negative breast cancer that many hoped would lead to targeted treatments for the aggressive disease. Instead, they discovered that the findings were limited to a single patient and could not be applied to further clinical work.

Inhibiting a previously undruggable protein holds promise for treatment of numerous types of cancer.

Following last night's vote by the Senate to repeal the SGR bill, the largest society of oncologists praised the action by Congress to end this Medicare reimbursement controversy.

When people learn they have a lesion in their pancreas that could become pancreatic cancer, they often request frequent CT scans and biopsies, or surgery. Often the lesion is nothing to worry about. A team of international physicians has developed a profile of the patient most at risk of developing lesions that are most likely to develop into cancer.

Evidence-Based Oncology is an important forum to have conversations that are needed in medicine today, said Joseph Alvarnas, MD, the new editor-in-chief of the journal.

Smartphone data is now being used for crowdsourcing studies of diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular disease.

The move comes after an auditor's report found several rural hospitals in poor financial shape, with low Medicaid reimbursements cited as a reason.

In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers found that the protein Myc helps maintain cellular addiction to nutrients, which helps them grow and survive.

Currently partnered with Apple, Johnson & Johnson, and Medtronic, IBM is also buying Explorys and Phytel, 2 start-ups that can boost IBM's presence in the healthcare world.

While Medicare is ready to pay for an annual spiral CT scan for long-term smokers, some doctors think it's an unnecessary procedure that might do more harm than good.

Cancer patients without insurance can be paying up to 43 times what Medicare pays for the same chemotherapy drugs, according to a new study published in Health Affairs from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

A one-minute look at managed care news during the week of April 8, 2015, including a CMS announcing mental health parity and billions of dollars in unnecessary breast cancer care costs.

UPMC is threatening to lock Highmark's Medicare Advantage customers out of its hospitals, a move Governor Tom Wolf calls "unacceptable."

The scientists at Cancer Research UK, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, have identified 77 changes in the DNA of individuals at an increased risk for breast cancer and have developed a "polygenic risk score" based on the changes.

Reaffirming previous trial results, the new study, published in International Journal of Radiation Oncology · Biology · Physics found that while radiation therapy had no impact on outcomes in head and neck cancer patients, it caused anemia in several.

The buzz words, wherever you turn to in healthcare today, are "value," "patient-centered," "quality." The question remains, how are these elements being incorporated in practice by the healthcare industry, and is the patient engaged in these discussions?

In a related commentary in the same issue, Mark S. Talamonti, MD, of the NorthShore University HealthSystem, wrote, "With an aging population, this most formidable of human cancers will only increase in incidence and frequency. There is a clear and unequivocal need for affordable screening strategies based on reliable biomarkers and efficient imaging modalities."

A neurooncology research team identified that the transcription factor Id4 can suppressor glioblastoma invasion by preventing the expression of a matrix degrading enzyme.

Although the Affordable Care Act has helped more people gain access to healthcare coverage, including those with pre-existing conditions such as cancer, the survey by the Cancer Support Community found that the cost of care is still too high for many cancer patients.

The study found that the greater the gap between high-income individuals and low-income individuals within a community, the larger the gap in testing.