ASCO 2015 Highlights

Pathways continue to be refined toward value-based care, adapting to the challenges of a rapidly shifting oncology landscape, as 2 speakers at the Third Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care described.

A novel study offers a new explanation for the geographical differences seen in Medicare costs across the nation.

Neuroendocrine cancer, a rare type of cancer (that became well known after Steve Jobs was diagnosed with and died from a neuroendocrine cancer of the pancreas), may have a new lease on life, if Swedish researchers of Uppsala University in Sweden find a way of obtaining £1 million (approximately $1.5 million) to support their research.

Researchers have analyzed the genetic makeup of hundreds of endometrial tumors that may lead to targeted therapies for subpopulations of patients with this deadly cancer.

With the Third Annual Con­ference of the Associ­ation for Value-Based Cancer Care (AVBCC) held in May in Florida and the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology concluding in June in Chicago, it is tempting to consider which of the many presentations, abstracts, and reports were most impactful or will have the greatest influence on how oncologists think about, diagnose, and treat patients with cancer.

Chicago, IL—Previous trials of maintenance therapy for patients with ovarian cancer have failed to show improved survival. A study presented at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting is the first successful phase 3 trial in this setting, showing that the targeted therapy pazopanib (Votrient) extended progression-free survival (PFS) by a median of 5.6 months in women with ovarian cancer.

Chicago, IL—Inappropriate deviation from evidence-based standards of care for cancer raises costs in excess of $25,000 per patient, stated Arlene A. Forastiere, MD, Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs at eviti, Inc, Philadelphia, PA, in a poster presented at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

Hollywood, FL—Genomic profiling of individual tumors represents a paradigm shift in oncology and holds great promise for patients, according to Gary Palmer, MD, JD, MBA, MPH, Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs and Commercial Development, Foun­dation Medicine, who described this new genomic assay at the Third Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care.

Hollywood, FL— A community oncology medical home headed by Barbara L. McAneny, MD, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of the New Mexico Cancer Center, Albuquerque, is a good example of how putting patients first can be good for patient care and good for the bottom line.