ASCO 2015 Highlights

The cancer care landscape is rapidly evolving, in light of promising new therapies, as well as changing reimbursement strategies in response to the healthcare reform.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States among men and the most frequently diagnosed cancer in American males. Among patients with metastatic prostate cancer, up to approximately 90% have bone metastases.

After being in short supply since 2008, leucovorin, an analog of folic acid, is now more readily available, and the economics of US cancer care are about to have a bit of a reprieve.

Niagara Falls, Ontario—New data presented at the 2013 Canadian Urological Association annual meeting suggest that prostatic inflammation can reduce the risk for developing prostate cancer.

Niagara Falls, Ontario—Among men with prostate cancer and preexisting cardiovascular (CV) disease, the risk of CV events or CV-related death is cut in half when they receive androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) with degarelix (Firmagon) instead of the luetinizing hormone–releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists goserelin (Zoladex) or leuprolide (Lupron), according to results of a new analysis presented at the 2013 Canadian Urological Association annual meeting.

Lugano, Switzerland—The genomic basis of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL), a very aggressive and incurable type of lymphoma, has not been understood until now. At the 2013 International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma, a team of researchers from the Mayo Clinic and from the University of Virginia presented its recent findings at a poster session involving the most comprehensive study to date of the genomic landscape of PCNSL.

The US Supreme Court’s ruling on June 13 in the case of the Association for Molecular Pathology v Myriad Genetics will have significant implications for the future of cancer testing, molecular diagnostics, and treatment.

>Orlando, FL—The use of patient navigators can reduce racial disparities in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening and can potentially reduce the mortality rates—and do both cost-effectively, according to studies presented at Digestive Disease Week 2013.

Hollywood, FL—End-of-life issues have advanced in a positive direction since the so-called death panel controversy of 2009, but health plans still need to promote these discussions, said J. Russell Hoverman, MD, PhD, Vice President, Quality Programs, Texas Oncology, at the Third Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care.

At the Third Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care, several Meet the Experts roundtable discussions addressed the hottest topics in oncology.