Web Exclusives

The demands of value-based care have continued to evolve since oncologists began transitioning from fee-for-service to fee-for-value reimbursement more than five years ago. For community-based oncology practices, more change is coming with the introduction of the Oncology Care First Model, the successor of the current Oncology Care Model (OCM). Following a one-year delay caused by the pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is expected to launch the Oncology Care First Model in 2022 and will likely include a larger number of practices than the OCM.

Patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma and disease progression after treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy and PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors have limited treatment options. Enfortumab vedotin (Padcev), a Nectin-4–directed antibody and microtubule inhibitor conjugate, demonstrated an objective response rate (ORR) in more than 40% of patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma who had progression after previous treatment.

Induction chemotherapy leads to remission in many patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) aged ≥60 years; however, the disease relapses in the majority of the patients, and the overall survival (OS) is poor. For patients who are not candidates for hematopoietic stem-cell transplant, effective maintenance treatments for AML are needed that can reduce the risk for relapse and improve OS, without causing unacceptable adverse events or compromising quality of life.

Patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) have a high relapse rate and poor outcome after standard treatment. Capecitabine (Xeloda), a chemotherapy that has been used widely in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, is a potential maintenance treatment option for the prevention of TNBC recurrence based on results of a recent study.

David DeRemer, PharmD, BCOP, FCCP, FHOPA, Clinical Associate Professor, University of Florida College of Pharmacy, shares insights about cancer drugs and COVID-19 in this interview that followed a segment of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care (AVBCC) webinar series COVID-19 Recovery, the Road Ahead, in which he recently took part.

On June 10, 2020, the FDA accelerated the approval of a new indication for nivolumab (Opdivo; Bristol Myers Squibb), a PD-1 inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with unresectable advanced, recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma after fluoropyrimidine-based and platinum-based chemotherapy. Nivolumab has been previously approved for many indications, but this is its first indication for esophageal cancer.

On June 15, 2020, the FDA accelerated the approval of lurbinectedin (Zepzelca; Jazz Pharma/Pharma Mar), an intravenous alkylating drug, for the treatment of adults with metastatic small-cell lung cancer that has progressed during or after platinum-based chemotherapy. The FDA granted lurbinectedin an orphan drug designation for this indication.

San Francisco, CA—Although there is a biological rationale that supports the “abscopal” effects of radiation therapy plus checkpoint immunotherapy in fighting cancer, this combination showed mixed results and no robust effects in patients with metastatic renal-cell carcinoma (RCC), according to results of 2 preliminary studies presented at the 2020 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

San Francisco, CA—If you know someone who has cancer, reaching out could be the medicine he or she needs. According to data presented at the 2019 ASCO Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium, increased social support may function as an analgesic that helps to mitigate one of the most common symptoms experienced by patients with cancer—pain.

San Francisco, CA—Reducing pain without increasing the use of opioids is feasible in patients with advanced cancer, according to the results of a retrospective analysis presented at the 2019 ASCO Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium. Among the 300 patients seen by an inpatient palliative care team, 50% of patients achieved clinically improved pain control without an increase in oral morphine-equivalent daily dose.