Articles

Assessing quality care in the age of precision medicine can be challenging. In a special session at the 2016 Quality Care Symposium, various stakeholders presented their perspectives on the challenges and opportunities related to quality care in this rapidly changing landscape.

The chances for further policy changes in healthcare over the next several years are expected to be minimal, said panelists during a roundtable discussion at the 2016 National Comprehensive Cancer Network annual conference.

On November 20, 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ixazomib (Ninlaro; Takeda Oncology) capsules in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who received at least 1 previous therapy.

Anastrozole and tamoxifen are similarly effective in preventing breast cancer recurrence in postmenopausal women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). The choice should depend on patient preferences, side-effect profiles, age, and other patient factors, according to 2 studies presented at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

The antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) improved overall survival (OS) compared with physician’s choice of therapy in patients with pretreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, according to the final results of the phase 3 TH3RESA trial, which were presented at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

The advantages of treatment at a high-volume center extended to adjuvant therapy in patients with resected pancreatic cancer, according to a study reported by Margaret T. Mandelson, PhD, MPH, Floyd and Dolores Jones Cancer Institute, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, WA, at the 2016 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Experience at a high-volume cancer center suggests that nonstereotactic body radiotherapy external beam reirradiation of the pelvis for cancer recurrence or for a second genitourinary malignancy is safe in patients with advanced cancer, and can achieve excellent and durable palliation of symptoms without severe radiation-induced morbidity.

At the 2016 Cancer Survivorship Symposium, Dr Ganz spoke with Value-Based Cancer Care (VBCC) about the importance of cancer rehabilitation, the politics of surveillance, and the greatest unmet needs facing survivors.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors demonstrated varying degrees of activity in advanced gastric and esophageal cancers, according to preliminary clinical studies reported at the 2016 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.