Value-Based Care

Hollywood, FL—Community oncology will not survive in the absence of novel management strategies and process improvements, according to Michael Kolodziej, MD, FACP, National Medical Director of Oncology Solutions, who offered his insights at the Third Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care.

In the December 2012 issue of Value-Based Cancer Care (VBCC), several Editorial Board members addressed the recent events surrounding the cost of cancer drugs and the reduction of the price of ziv-aflibercept (Zaltrap). VBCC continued this discussion with Al B. Benson III, MD, FACP, FASCO.

With the fanfare of a New York Times Op-Ed piece by Peter B. Bach, MD, and colleagues, the announcement was made that Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) would exclude the new colorectal cancer drug ziv-aflibercept (Zaltrap) from its formulary.

The cost of cancer care is staggering. Global sales of cancer drugs alone are forecast to grow at a rate of 12% to 15% annually, reaching $75 billion to $80 billion by the end of this year, according to IMS Health.

We should all read with great interest the New York Times opinion piece by Peter B. Bach, MD, and colleagues from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on their rationale for not including ziv-aflibercept (Zaltrap) in its formulary for patients with metastatic or advanced colorectal cancer.

Specialty pharmacies are facing specific challenges in the ways they interact with payers, providers, and even with the pharmaceutical industry in relation to access and delivery of cancer drugs.

At the 2012 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, Value-Based Cancer Care (VBCC) asked Al B. Benson, III, MD, FACP, Professor of Medicine, Associate Director for Clinical Investigations, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Immediate Past President, ACCC, and editorial board member of VBCC, to discuss the growing importance of molecular profiling in cancer care.

The clinical and economic impact of multiple myeloma is tremendous. With the onset of novel therapies used in multiple myeloma, as well as the release of new data demonstrating progression-free survival and overall survival, therapy used in multiple myeloma is now on the radar for payers, despite the relatively low incidence of the disease.