AVBCC Special Feature

Nearly 12% of American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point during their lives. Prostate cancer may remain indolent, but it often requires treatment, as evidenced by the more than 26,000 deaths attributable to this disease annually. Although the 5-year survival is high for men with localized prostate cancer, this drops to 29% in men with metastatic prostate cancer. Even with treatment, prostate cancer progresses in more than 33% of men. The median time to metastatic disease is approximately 8 to 10 years after the detection of biochemical recurrence.

Community oncology has an important role in eliminating barriers to accessing healthcare and reducing disparities in cancer care. Improving access to high-quality, cost-effective cancer care was addressed from a variety of perspectives at the 2017 Association for Value-Based Cancer Care Summit.

Ongoing uncertainty over cost-­sharing reduction payments and premium subsidies threatens the sustainability of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the implementation of various quality initiatives contained within it. Consequently, several health plans are reducing their footprint in the health insurance exchanges, further threatening the stability of the ACA.