ASCO 2015 Highlights

Orlando, FL—Active surveillance is sometimes used as management strategy in patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer, especially in older, sicker men with short life expectancy. A new study validates the use of active surveillance for men with low-risk prostate cancer but provides sobering data regarding this type of management for those with intermediate-risk prostate cancer. The study results were presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

San Francisco, CA—According to a recent cost-effectiveness analysis, third-line therapy with regorafenib (Stivarga) in patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) far ­exceeded accepted willingness-to-pay thresholds based on incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). Presented at the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, the results showed that regorafenib provided an additional 0.04 QALYs, at a cost of $39,391.

San Francisco, CA—In what is believed to be the first economic analysis of disease progression of patients with myeloma, researchers found that in patients with newly diagnosed myeloma, the monthly costs are reduced by 68% between the first 4 months through 18 months, but they then rise steeply when the disease relapses. The data were presented at the 2014 American Society of Hematology meeting.

Orlando, FL—Experts are hopeful that the field of prostate cancer will soon be catching up to breast cancer and some other tumor types with regard to genomic markers. A study featured at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium sug­­gests that the an­drogen receptor (AR) abnormality known as “AR-V7” will turn out to be a predictive marker to help in treatment selection for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate can­­cer (CRPC).

Although often criticized as being overly expensive, innovations in drug development for hematologic malignancies meet standard benchmarks for cost-effectiveness, delivering value for their cost, suggest a team of health economics researchers led by Peter J. Neumann, ScD, Director, the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health, Tufts Medical Center, Boston (Saret CJ, et al. Blood. 2015 Feb 5. Epub ahead of print).

Orlando, FL—Surprisingly, the use of adjuvant sorafenib (Nexavar) and sunitinib (Sutent) failed to extend disease­-free survival (DFS) in patients with locally advanced kidney cancer who are at high risk for recurrence, according to initial results of the ASSURE study. The ASSURE trial is the first and largest study investigating the use of adjuvant tyrosine kinase inhibitors/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors in kidney cancer.

Late last year, the American ­Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) issued a policy statement on Medicaid reform, with recommendations on ensuring quality of care for all patients with cancer, including the underserved population, while also improving provider reimbursement to ensure value-based care. ASCO’s poicy statement advocates for the expansion of Medicaid coverage to all Americans with cancer, an increase in Medicaid pay­­ment rates to reach those of Medicare, and a greater emphasis on rewarding providers for the delivery of quality care.