Articles

The rising cost of healthcare, including cancer care, is an established trend in the United States. In 2015, Americans spent $3.2 trillion (nearly $10,000 per person) on healthcare, including hospital inpatient and outpatient care, physicians’ services, and prescription drugs. The National Cancer Institute estimates that by 2020, the annual cost of healthcare for Americans with cancer will reach $156 billion; based on current trends, this means that cancer care will represent approximately 20% of the country’s annual healthcare expenditures.

San Diego, CA—Nelfinavir (Viracept), a drug used for HIV, led to a surprisingly high response rate when added to bor­tezomib (Velcade) in patients with proteasome inhibitor–refractory multiple myeloma, according to a phase 2 study reported by Christoph Driessen, MD, myeloma specialist, Kantonsspital St. Gallen, Switzerland, at the 2016 American Society of Hematology meeting.

San Diego, CA—Although tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) including imatinib (Gleevec), nilotinib (Tasigna), and dasatinib (Sprycel), have dramatically improved outcomes in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), the costs of these drugs have spiraled out of control, causing some patients to stop treatment or cut their dosage because of financial toxicity. Data presented at the 2016 American Society of Hematology meeting show that it is possible for some patients with CML to reduce their TKI dose by 50% and maintain remission, perhaps even stop treatment altogether once deep and durable remission has been achieved after approximately 5 years of treatment.

San Diego, CA—Maintenance therapy with lenalidomide (Revlimid) after frontline chemotherapy markedly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to interim results from a phase 3 study presented at the 2016 American Society of Hematology meeting.

San Diego, CA—Targeting a second-­generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) in mutation-specific chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) led to deep and durable responses that were maintained beyond 3 years in some cases, reported Neil Shah, MD, PhD, Department of Medicine/Hematology-Oncology, University of California San Francisco, during a poster presentation at the 2016 American Society of Hematology meeting.

San Diego, CA—Induction therapy with a liposomal formulation of cytarabine and daunorubicin CPX-351 (Vyxeos) is superior to cytarabine plus daunorubicin (7+3 regimen) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a subgroup analysis of a large phase 3 clinical trial that was presented at the 2016 American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting.

The 2016 American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting provided insight into new treatment options and mechanism of action choices for hematologic cancers. Health plans need to continue to expand their knowledge and expertise in all cancer types to maintain the ability to manage and apply coverage criteria appropriately as FDA approvals continue to increase in oncology.

San Diego, CA—Although considered a standard of care for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, the benefit of autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) has been recently questioned as a result of the rapid expansion of novel treatments.

San Diego, CA—In transplant-eligible patients with newly diagnosed, advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma, a decision-analytic model showed that chemotherapy with bleomycin, plus etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (BEACOPP) maximized life-expectancy and quality-adjusted life expectancy compared with doxorubicin plus bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) therapy in the first-line setting, reported Abi Vijenthira, MD, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of Toronto, Canada, at the 2016 American Society of Hematology meeting.