September 2013, Vol 4, No 7

Hospital readmissions for chronic diseases, including cancer, are associated with a significant and often preventable financial burden in the United States.

Just this month, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a report titled “Delivering High-Quality Can­cer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis.”¹ This consensus report convened a committee of experts to examine the quality of cancer care in the United States and formulate recommendations for its improvement.

The AVBCC Annual Meeting experiences exponential growth in attendance and participation as oncologists, payers, employers, managed care executives, patient advocates, and drug manufacturers convened in Hollywood, FL, on May 2-5, 2013, for the Third Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care (AVBCC).

Hollywood, FL—The goal of balancing cost and quality leaves no stakeholder without a challenge, said Grant D. Lawless, MD, RPh, Director, Healthcare Decision Analysis Program, and Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

An aromatase inhibitor has joined tamoxifen (Nolvadex) and the selective estrogen receptor (ER) modulator raloxifene hydrochloride (Evista) as chemoprevention for women who are at an increased risk for breast cancer, according to the recent update of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) practice guideline (Visvanathan K, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2013;31:2942-2962)

The cancer care landscape is rapidly evolving, in light of promising new therapies, as well as changing reimbursement strategies in response to the healthcare reform.

The complexity of healthcare exchanges has heads spinning. Attendees at the Third Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care came away with a better understanding of the exchanges after a presentation by Matthew C. Palmgren, PharmD, President, Int’Ovation, Signal Mountain, TN.

Washington, DC—Real-life experience translated into a research interest for Fedricker D. Barber, RN, MSN, of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX. At the 38th Annual Congress of the Oncology Nursing Society, Ms Barber presented a poster about the relationships between adult cancer survivors’ and caregivers’ social support, self-efficacy for physical activity, and quality-of-life (QOL) issues.

Berlin, Germany—A food supplement containing pomegranate seeds, green tea, broccoli, and turmeric—called Pomi-T (natureMedical)—taken twice daily significantly lowered prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels versus placebo in men with localized prostate cancer, according to the results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.