ASCO 2015 Highlights

Much attention is given to how bad news affects patients with cancer. Yet, little is known about the experience of physicians and what is required by them to deliver this news.

As patients, providers, payers, and policymakers continue to seek ways to assess the value of cancer therapies by balancing clinical benefits and treatment costs, a number of tools have been released to define the value of medicines.

Boston, MA—Fertility preservation by controlled ovarian hyperstimulation with concurrent letrozole (Femara) is safe in women with breast cancer, according to a single-center, prospective study on the long-term safety of fertility preservation by the use of ovarian stimulation and concurrent aromatase inhibitors in women with breast cancer, presented at the 2015 Best of ASCO meeting in Boston. Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation had no impact on relapse-free survival and enabled live births in a substantial proportion of women who later chose to retrieve their frozen embryos or oocytes.

Washington, DC—The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) is in the midst of developing an oncology medical home program. Ten oncology practices have participated in COA’s pilot program, and the oncology medical home model will be expanding to 50 more practices during 2016.

Washington, DC—The role of oncology specialty pharmacy in helping to streamline medication delivery for patients with cancer was the subject of a panel discussion that took place at the Fifth Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care.

Boston, MA—What is the best chemotherapy regimen to use for patients with locally advanced nonsquamous non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)? The phase 3 PROCLAIM trial attempted to answer this question, but the study failed to determine the best regimen for this patient population.

An Interview with Dixie-Lee Esseltine, MD, and George Mulligan, PhD, of Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company

Chicago, IL—Lenvatinib (Lenvima) was approved by the FDA in February 2015 for the treatment of patients with advanced radioactive iodine (¹³¹I)-­refractory differentiated thyroid cancer based on the SELECT trial results. Investigators looked at which patients will preferentially benefit from this oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). At the 2015 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, 2 subgroup analyses of SELECT shed light on patient selection for treatment with lenvatinib.

Chicago, IL—Oncologists looking to learn about immunotherapy did not have to go very far at the 2015 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting. Many of the highest-impact presentations this year, including a plenary session, the Karnofsky Award, and the Science of Oncology Award, focused on cancer therapy’s most exciting field.

Gone are the days when patients with cancer were, for the most part, protected from healthcare costs by their medical insurance. According to a recent study sponsored by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and conducted by Ronan J. Kelly, MD, MBA, MBBCh, Assistant Professor of Oncology, Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, and colleagues, with high deductibles, escalating copayments, and cost-sharing requirements becoming the status quo, patients with cancer are now, more than ever, feeling the effects of financial toxicity, particularly young patients who are especially susceptible to filing for medical bankruptcy (Kelly RJ, et al. J Oncol Pract. 2015;11:308-312).