ASCO 2015 Highlights

Chicago, IL—With finite healthcare resources, do physicians have a duty to serve society broadly by being responsible stewards of those shared resources, or is their obligation to the patients before them incompatible with any rationing?

We have all had that patient—the patient who is prescribed a new targeted therapy and cannot comply with it because it is just too expensive. When asked directly about the reasoning for the noncompliance, the patient suggests that taking the treatment is just too expensive and, in fact, it is cheaper to die.

Los Angeles, CA—An understanding of the genomic drivers of cancer and linking therapy to these genetic alterations provides value to all stakeholders, including oncologists, payers, researchers, and patients, said Gary Palmer, MD, JD, MBA, MPH, Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs at Foundation Medicine.

Oncologists’ excitement about the promise of immunotherapy is about to be tested in clinical practice, with the recent FDA approval of pembrolizumab (Kytruda; Merck), the first anti–programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibody

Chicago, IL—Oncologists should become value-based providers by eliminating unnecessary tests, prescribing cheaper alternatives when therapeutic equivalents exist, and keep calling for payment reform, said Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, Chair, Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, at the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, during a session on defining value from different stakeholder perspectives.

Lung cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers, as well as the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States.

Chicago, IL—When added to chemotherapy (ie, docetaxel), the new monoclonal antibody ramucirumab improved overall survival (OS) compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with stage IV non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to phase 3 trial results presented at the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting.

Chicago, IL— Necitumumab, a human immunoglobulin G1 anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody, added to standard chemotherapy significantly improved survival compared with chemotherapy alone as first-line treatment of patients with stage IV non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) of squamous histology.

Toronto, Ontario—Going to more than 10 indoor tanning sessions over a person’s lifetime is associated with a 34% increased risk of developing melanoma, according to a new meta-analysis presented at the 2014 Canadian Dermatology Association annual meeting.