Clinical

The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Annual Meeting kicked off on March 28, 2017, in Denver, Colorado, with a look at the specialty pharmaceutical pipeline with Aimee Tharaldson, PharmD, senior clinical consultant for emerging therapeutics at Express Scripts.

Results from the randomized NOVA trial convinced the FDA to approve niraparib (Zejula) as maintenance treatment for adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancer who are sensitive to platinum-based chemotherapy.

According to research conducted at the Colorado School of Public Health at CU Anschutz, nearly 75% of smokers have low socioeconomic status.

While the orphan drug market has been growing, a new study argues that the current unmet needs of patients with rare disease proves that current incentives are not efficiently stimulating orphan drug development.

At the 22nd Annual Conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, held March 23-25, 2017, in Orlando, FL, Gregory J. Riely, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, spoke about the what, when, and how of biomarker testing in non-small cell lung cancer.

On the second day of the 22nd Annual Conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), Kilian E. Salerno, MD, of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, walked the audience through updates to the NCCN Guidelines, explaining clinical situations in which radiation is indicated, appropriate targets of radiation treatment, and optimal approaches for minimizing toxicity.

While multigene panels are extremely important in precision cancer care, high levels of variance and insufficient insurance coverage are significant barriers to rapid adoption, according to Kenneth Offit, MD, MPH, from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

At the 22nd Annual Conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, held March 23-25, 2017, in Orlando, FL, policy researchers with interest in cancer care disparities discussed the source of existing disparities and how they can be successfully addressed.

The report, which provides an update on all the monumental changes witnessed by the field of oncology over the last year, highlights 3 key achievements: new investments in science and insurance coverage, payment models that emphasize quality, and rapid-learning healthcare systems.

Using patient-reported outcomes and data on healthcare utilization, researchers from the Yale School of Medicine have been able to compare the health burden of asthma—COPD overlap syndrome with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) alone.

Do newer forms of radiation treatments surpass standard radiation in prostate cancer?

The FDA has issued a warning for Viberzi that patients who do not have a gallbladder have an increased risk of developing serious pancreatitis.

A preview of some of the discussions at the 22nd Annual Conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN).

The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) has come out strongly against a bill that would provide employers with insight into workers’ personal medical and genetic information.

This week, the top managed care stories included the Congressional Budget Office releasing its rating of the GOP's health plan, the Senate voted to confirm Seema Verma for CMS administrator, and Scott Gottlieb, MD, was nominated to lead the FDA.

The White House budget “blueprint” for 2018, which was released today, has recommended substantial cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) received an accelerated approval for adult and pediatric patients with refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma or those who have relapsed after at least 3 lines of therapy.

Ken Tarkoff, formerly at RelayHealth, is joining Syapse as its new CEO.

New research published in Nature Medicine has identified a broader population of individuals with breast cancer who can have therapeutic sensitivity to PARP inhibitors.

A new study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, has confirmed that mammographic density change following estrogen and progestin treatment increases the risk of breast cancer.

The selective BCR-ABL1 kinase inhibitor imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) has been found to be safe and effective following almost 11 years of follow-up in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.

A study evaluating patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer who refused a clinical intervention for fear of being overdiagnosed has reported that the individuals feel isolated and anxious.

The main focus of Humana’s business activities is to provide a better experience for patients and physicians, according to Roy Beveridge, MD, chief medical officer of Humana. This patient-centered approach is informed by his work as a practicing oncologist, where he learned to think about clinical programs from the perspective of the patient.

A new study from the MD Anderson Cancer Center has identified factors that influence cancer clinical trial accrual rates.

A pilot study conducted at a safety net hospital has armed researchers with a new educational tool: a digital app to persuade parents to vaccinate their adolescent against the human papilloma virus (HPV).

First-line pembrolizumab every 3 weeks followed by second-line ipilimumab, and first-line nivolumab followed by second-line ipilimumab are cost-effective strategies in patients with advanced melanoma expressing wild-type BRAF.

Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working at 50 specialty pharmacy locations owned by Walgreens have completed a cancer-focused curriculum of advanced education courses.

The widespread nature of the opioid epidemic will require coordination from a variety of stakeholders and all levels of government. In this podcast, experts discuss how the crisis got so out of hand, various tactics being undertaken to reverse the opioid, and the current impact of stigma on getting treatment.