July 2016, Vol 7, No 6

High-risk patients with metastatic renal-cell carcinoma (RCC) and venous tumor thrombus derived no benefit from cytoreductive nephrectomy and should be evaluated for clinical trials of systemic therapy, suggested a retrospective multicenter review.
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The Individual Patient Expanded Access Application, which is designed to streamline the application procedure for individual patients who apply for expanded access to investigational therapeutics, including expanded access to drugs that are not in clinical trials, was recently updated by the FDA. Form FDA 3926 authorizes expanded access to investigational drugs for patients with serious or life-threatening conditions who have no therapeutic options.
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Opposition to proposed changes to the Medicare Part B payment for prescription drugs continues to grow since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its plan in March 2016.
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Early intervention utilizing a team approach is important to successful palliative care, agreed a multidisciplinary panel convened at the 2016 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) annual conference.
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“Value” in healthcare has been defined as outcomes relative to cost. Determining the value of a healthcare benefit remains difficult and complex for many stakeholders. With the increasing cost of cancer therapies, value has become an important topic of conversation for patients, healthcare providers, self-funded plan sponsors (employers), and payers.
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Daratumumab in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone achieved a 63% reduction in progression-free survival (PFS) compared with lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone in patients with multiple myeloma who had received at least 1 previous line of therapy, according to study results presented at the 2016 European Hematology Association Annual Congress meeting.
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A new payment and delivery model introduced by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation aims to align financial incentives to improve oncology care and outcomes. Expected to begin in July 2016, the program will target patients from the start of their chemotherapy through 6 months of care.
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The National Academy of Medicine recommends a shared decision-making approach when discussing medical treatments; however, an overview of evidence presented by Terrance Lynn Albrecht, PhD, Associate Center Director, Population Sciences, Karmanos Cancer Institute, and Chief of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, at the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting suggests that clinicians are not very effective in following this recommendation.
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With the exception of resistance mutations, somatic alterations in circulating tumor (ct) DNA (ie, a liquid biopsy) are consistent with alterations found in tissue biopsies of patients with advanced solid tumors, said Philip C. Mack, PhD, Director of Molecular Pharmacology, University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sacramento, at the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting.
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