Articles

Hollywood, FL—Panelists at the 2013 National Comprehensive Cancer Net­work (NCCN) annual conference view the oncology world as rapidly changing, and the impact of this, for better or for worse, will be felt by healthcare providers, payers, and patients alike.

Washington, DC—More than 50% of patients with difficult-to-treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) had tumor shrinkage during 6 months of treatment with ibrutinib, results of a phase 2 clinical trial showed.

Hollywood, FL—For the first time, the Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care (AVBCC) was addressed by a member of Congress.

Hollywood, FL—Stakeholders from across the field of oncology gathered at the Third Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care (AVBCC) to network and to explore ways to adapt to a rapidly changing landscape.

Background: Although information about quality care is increasingly available, there remains a gap in knowledge regarding stakeholders’ perceptions of quality cancer care. It is important to maintain high quality of patient care, but perspectives of quality may differ by stakeholder.

Background: Electrolyte abnormalities are the most common laboratory findings in patients with malignancies. Clinical manifestations of several electrolyte deficiencies occur with frequency in malignancy (Hawthorne JL, Schneider SM, Workman ML). Patients who are admitted for chemotherapy regimens as well as for complications post chemo receive electrolyte replacements on a daily basis. Experience has shown consistent patient and staff nurse dissatisfaction with the current replacement protocol.

Background: Two oral agents for mCRPC patients who previously received docetaxel were recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration—abiraterone acetate plus prednisone (AA+p) and enzulatamide (EN). Phase 3 studies in this population showed median treatment duration of 8 months for AA+p1 and 8.3 months for EN,2 while median survival was 15.81 months and 18.42 months, respectively. The budgetary impact of these products to payers depends, in part, upon real world treatment duration and the proportion of mCRPC patients utilizing each product.

Background: In an era of multiple effective treatment options for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (MM), a recent meta-analysis has shown that retreatment with bortezomib continues to be an effective option in previously treated patients who relapsed.

Background: The introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) into clinical practice resulted in a very dramatic prolongation of survival for most, but not all patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase. If properly managed, and if adherence is greater than 80%, the 10-year survival rate reaches 85% for patients treated with the 1st-generation (Gen) TKI, imatinib (Gleevec).

Background: Breast Care at IU Health North Hospital is a multidisciplinary clinic comprised of breast surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, plastic surgeons and geneticists. It has consistently achieved excellent patient satisfaction scores; however, one area needing improvement was in office wait time.