September 2014, Vol 5, No 7

Toronto, Ontario—New laser-based imaging technology differentiates malignant melanoma from other cancerous and benign skin lesions, according to a preliminary study presented at the 2014 Canadian Dermatology Association annual conference.

Los Angeles, CA—Predictive testing offers greater value over prognostic testing to most stakeholders in cancer care, because it has a direct impact on disease treatment rather than simply predicting the course of the disease (which is, ironically, the role of prognostic testing), said S. Macey Johnson III, MBA, Vice President, Managed Care and Reimbursement, bioTheranostics, San Diego, CA, at the Fourth Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care.

Predictive multiplex genomic (or genetic) testing may revolutionize the treatment of cancer by identifying targetable mutations in cancer genes for their individual patients. Although genetic testing is commercially available, its use in clinical practice has not been fully investigated.

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.