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A recent study suggests that sleeve lobectomy is safe to perform in patients with non–small cell lung cancer who received neoadjuvant therapy.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Virginia Wang, PhD, and Matthew L. Maciejewski, PhD, who talk about their recent study on racial disparities in home dialysis, and what more needs to be done to increase uptake and reduce disparities in home dialysis for non-White patients.

The lower number needed to treat suggests that ruxolitinib cream may be more effective for patients with atopic dermatitis (AD), according to a poster presented at AMCP 2023.

People with the inherited disease can expect to live 52.6 years following birth, the report shows.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute has multiple tuberculosis (TB) therapies and a prophylactic vaccine in development, and its chief medical officer, Michael W. Dunne, MD, remains optimistic long-term about the state of clinical care, especially in low-and-middle-income countries.

Tennessee’s governor rejected $8.8 million in federal grant money for HIV prevention and detection; Senator Bernie Sanders pleads for drug price decrease in his first drug hearing as health chair; the prevalence of autism is growing, with children of color more likely to be diagnosed compared with White children for the first time.

Digital health data can facilitate the participation of underrepresented and diverse patient populations in clinical trials, but first the FDA must build its capability to evaluate such information in its regulatory processes for new drug development.

Actionable ways to implement what is known about social determinants of health were discussed among a panel of experts during a webinar broadcast in the beginning of March.

Both the high-concentration and low-concentration versions of adalimumab-adaz (Hyrimoz) injection will launch in July, along with a wave of other biosimilars to Humira (reference adalimumab).

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the health care and mainstream press.

Advantages to using surrogate vs clinical end points in drug approvals include earlier access, but there can be concerns about the efficacy and end result of the drug, said Yuqian Liu, PharmD, senior director of specialty clinical solutions at Magellan Rx Management.

Pharmacy benefit manager reform is a major trend in state managed care policy, said Adam Colborn, director of government relations at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP).

Implementing a strategy that focuses on dose rounding for chemotherapies can have a 3-fold impact of decreasing drug costs, minimizing drug waste, and improving treatment efficiency. This strategy and its benefits were explored in a session on day 2 of AMCP 2023.

A chief concern among those considering the upcoming alternative payment model in oncology, the Enhancing Oncology Model (EOM): Practices will have to take on downside risk immediately.

A recent study found that infection is a significant burden in patients with multiple myeloma who receive bispecific antibodies, and viral infections are the most common culprits.

The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) retains the spirit of an upstart advocacy group, while working to look ahead at innovative technologies, care delivery trends, and other events that threaten independent practices, said oncology leaders while attending their annual meeting this week.

In this session at AMCP 2023, speakers broke down the challenges many managed care organizations face when wanting to collect detailed data on health disparities and proffered potential strategies that may help to facilitate gathering these data to address inequitable health care access.

Scott Soefje, PharmD, director of pharmacy cancer care at Mayo Clinic, explains the various ways drug dose rounding can reduce waste, reduce costs, and make drug administration more efficient.

Dupilumab is the first biologic to significantly improve lung function in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to topline results released Thursday.

Some challenges linking medication adherence to medical cost offsets include the potential of reverse causality, omitted variable bias, how adherence is measured between studies, and the outdated nature of some of the most-cited literature, said Ben Urick, PharmD, PhD, principal health outcomes researcher at Prime Therapeutics.

The Biden administration might implement changes on how it would fund private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans; by the end of 2022, drug shortages increased by almost 30%; the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) is expected to bring major changes to the US health system.

Manmeet Ahluwalia, MD, MBA, chief, Solid Tumor Medical Oncology; deputy director; and chief scientific officer at Miami Cancer Institute, spoke on the short- and long-term goals for Miami Cancer Institute’s Center for Equity in Cancer Care & Research in improving minority patient enrollment in clinical trials.

On the first full day of conference activity at AMCP 2023, a morning session examined prior authorization (PA) through a lens of refining the current process and the potential role of clinical trial data in PA criteria.

Panelists at the Value-Based Insurance Design Summit discussed ways their organizations are looking to create a better benefit design to promote health equity and address known disparities.

Recent papers highlight possible role of inflammation in connections between COVID-19, cancer markers.

Protection against COVID-19 and vaccine effectiveness increased after receiving 1 or 2 booster doses compared with a primary series alone, but vaccine effectiveness generally declined as the time since last dose increased.

The survival benefits of immune checkpoint inhibitors varied in young patients versus older patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer, a recent study found.

The US organ transplant system might face an overhaul in a proposal to be announced on Wednesday after years of criticism; the FDA may decide whether to approve additional COVID-19 booster vaccinations for vulnerable populations; a new study finds the same, small breast cancer risk in multiple forms of hormonal birth control.

Kashyap Patel, MD, immediate past president of Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and CEO of Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associates, talks about bringing together different stakeholders in the oncology space in order to benefit patients and providers.