ASCO 2015 Highlights

Los Angeles, CA—Wilshire Oncology Medical Group President Linda D. Bosserman, MD, discussed the group practice’s oncology medical home pilot of value-based innovation at the Fourth Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care.

>Los Angeles, CA—Can comparative effectiveness research (CER) be used for determining value in cancer care? At the Fourth Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care, C. Daniel Mullins, PhD, Chairman, Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, discussed this topic on the challenges of applying CER into value-based oncology therapy.

FDA Approves New Combination Therapy, Akynzeo, for the Prevention of Nausea and Vomiting Associated with Chemotherapy
FDA Grants Priority Review for Palbociclib, a Novel Breast Cancer Drug

New York, NY—The FDA approvals of obinutuzumab (Gazyva), ofatumumab (Arzerra), ibrutinib (Imbruvica), and idelalisib (Zydelig) have changed the treatment paradigm of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

New York, NY—In a debate on the role of rituximab (Rituxan) maintenance therapy in patients with follicular lymphoma at the 2014 National Comprehensive Cancer Network Congress, the protagonist and antagonist were not that far apart.

Toronto, Canada—Survival is not improved with routine surveillance using computed tomography (CT) versus chest x-ray in patients who have undergone resection for stage I non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the results of a new analysis presented at the 2014 American Association for Thoracic Surgery meeting.

San Francisco, CA—The use of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), also called stereotactic radiotherapy or radiosurgery, is an effective option for elderly patients with cancer who are inoperable or who decline surgery, but its safety and efficacy compared with surgery have not been investigated.

The initiative to improve end-of-life care in the United States is taking center stage, and it is about time. The US population is aging, and the number of older Americans with comorbidities is growing.

Chicago, IL—The commercially available cell-cycle progression test known as Prolaris is helpful for stratifying risk for men with clinically localized prostate cancer and can help to modify treatment decisions for men with prostate cancer based on the aggressive nature of their tumor, according to a poster presented at the 2014 College of American Pathologists annual meeting by Michael K. Brawer, MD, Vice President of Medical Affairs, Urology, Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Inc, Salt Lake City, UT, and colleagues.