ASCO 2015 Highlights

Philadelphia, PA—As new immunotherapies become available for the treatment of melanoma and other cancers, head-to-head trials of these agents shed more light on how best to use them. In the phase 3 KEYNOTE-006 trial, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) outperformed ipilimumab (Yervoy)—a current standard of care—as upfront treatment for patients with unresectable advanced melanoma. The data were presented at the 2015 American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting.

Washington, DC—The Fifth Annual Conference of the Association for ­Value-Based Cancer Care (AVBCC), held May 3-6, 2015, launched 3 days of presentations by US oncology stakeholders, including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, payers, policymakers, and drug/diagnostics manufacturers.

Orlando, FL—An independent review of the literature suggests that 3 biomarker tests developed for prostate cancer have yet to justify their utility in randomized clinical trials. The 3 tests in question—Prolaris, Decipher, and Oncotype DX for prostate cancer—are being used in practices around the country, cost approximately $3500 per test, and are reimbursable by Medicare depending on the state.

Thyroid cancer, cancer that starts in the thyroid gland, accounts for 3.8% of all cancer cases in the United States.1 There were an estimated 62,980 new cases of thyroid cancer and 1890 deaths resulting from thyroid cancer in 2014.1 Thyroid cancer is most common in people aged 45 to 54 years (median age, 50 years),1 and it occurs 2 to 3 times more often in women than in men.2 The incidence of thyroid cancer has risen steadily in recent years.3 Although this increasing rate can be attributed largely to disease detection at an earlier stage, the incidence of larger tumors has also increased.3

You have just been diagnosed with cancer, and one of the first people you meet on your healthcare team is introduced as a navigator. “A what?” you think. “I need doctors, not a GPS!” But over time, you will realize this person is a great guide.

The recently released American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual report, “The State of Cancer Care in America, 2015,” is a mixed bag: the report cites multiple advances in the progress against cancer, but also elaborates on the many hurdles in implementing state-of-the-art cancer care for all Americans.

An Interview with Ralph V. Boccia, MD, FACP, of Georgetown University

Chicago, IL—The National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation of a comprehensive cancer center trumps high case volume as a predictor of outcomes in ovarian cancer, according to a single-­region analysis.

Chicago, IL—Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor maintenance therapy with olaparib (Lynparza) for relapsed, platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer would meet conventional standards of cost-effectiveness only if the drug price decreased by ?66%, according to a modeling study.

Chicago, IL—The addition of bevaciz­umab (Avastin) to standard chemotherapy extended survival in women with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer compared with chemotherapy alone in the phase 3 randomized controlled GOG0213 trial. The results were presented at the 2015 Society of Gynecologic Oncology annual meeting.