Articles

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the tyrosine kinase inhibitor afatinib (Gilotrif; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals) for the treatment of patients with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R substitution.

At the Third Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care, several Meet the Experts roundtable discussions addressed the hottest topics in oncology. James T. Kenney, Jr, RPh, MBA, Pharmacy Operations Manager at Harvard Pilgrim, and Douglas S. Burgoyne, PharmD, President and Managing Partner, VRx Pharmacy Services, discussed the topic of brown and white bagging at one of these sessions.

Hollywood, FL—With the Affordable Care Act about to be fully enacted, and growing concerns about managing oncology costs, health plans will put simple processes in place ahead of new drug approvals to more actively manage these medications, said James T. Kenney, Jr, RPh, MBA, Pharmacy Operations Manager, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Wellesley, MA, at the Third Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care.

Hollywood, FL—In response to mandates for more efficient and lower-cost cancer drug utilization, CVS Caremark is developing innovative strategies, said Kirby J. Eng, RPh, Director of On­co­logy Medical Pharmacy Manage­ment, CVS Caremark, at the Third Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care.

Orlando, FL—In screening colonoscopies, high adenoma detection rates (ADRs) by physicians are associated with fewer missed cancers and with better survival from colorectal cancer (CRC), according to 2 studies presented at Digestive Disease Week 2013.

Chicago, IL—For-profit hospitals are more likely than their nonprofit counterparts to treat elderly patients with breast cancer with an expensive form of radiotherapy—despite lacking evidence of its benefit, researchers from the Yale Cancer Outcomes, Public Policy and Effectiveness Research Center reported at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

Chicago, IL—The rapid advances in cancer treatment, especially in personalized medicine, are occurring at an enormous financial cost to the healthcare system.

Chicago, IL—“Building Bridges to Conquer Cancer” was the theme of the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, as well as of the address of ASCO’s outgoing President Sandra M. Swain, MD.

The past several years have seen significant consolidation in the healthcare industry. The cost of healthcare in the United States is currently estimated to be 18% of the gross domestic product (GDP), and the costs are projected to increase disproportionately to the GDP during the next decade.

A new study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health shows that a set of proteins in the body produces a large number of mutations in human DNA, indicating that these naturally produced mutations are just as powerful as cancer-causing agents in producing tumors.