Charlie Dawson

The development of biosimilar medicines has provided an opportunity for patient utilization of oncology treatments at a lower cost, particularly in individuals for whom biologicals play a predominant role in providing effective therapeutic and supportive care.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront the importance of advance care planning.

Biosimilars have the potential to create a more sustainable healthcare environment by offering substantial cost-savings and expanding patient access to lifesaving therapies.

Over the past 2 decades, the number of cancer deaths per 100,000 blacks has declined approximately 30% in the United States, but black people are still disproportionately dying of cancer.

The recent approval of several new targeted therapies has led to significant advances in the treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 35,000 new cases of multiple myeloma will be diagnosed in the United States in 2021, and approximately 12,410 deaths will be attributed to the disease.

The COVID-19 pandemic may have temporarily overshadowed the opioid crisis in the United States, but deaths related to opioid overdose have risen to an all-time high in the past year.

Although standard chemotherapy is often effective in the first-line treatment of locally invasive urothelial carcinoma, until recently, there have been few second- or third-line treatment options for patients with advanced or metastatic disease.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, but the treatment landscape is rapidly evolving. In the past 10 years alone, the number of drugs approved by the FDA for non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has exceeded the previous 10 decades combined.

Enrollment in clinical trials is vital for the advancement of knowledge and improvement of patient outcomes, but few adults participate in cancer clinical trials.

Financial toxicity can have a negative effect on outcomes for patients with cancer. However, findings from a recent pilot study revealed that a comprehensive intervention focused on the financial aspects of care significantly improved quality of life for patients with hematologic malignancies.

Approximately two-thirds of patients with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) achieved a major cytogenetic response to the novel oral BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) vodobatinib, regardless of whether they had received previous treatment with ponatinib (Iclusig), according to findings from a recent phase 1 clinical trial.

In April 2020, the FDA granted accelerated approval to pemigatinib (Pemazyre), the first targeted therapy for cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). The FGFR inhibitor was approved for adults with CCA and FGFR2 fusion.

Targeted therapy has improved survival for patients with cancer across a broad spectrum of disease sites, but until recently, progress has been slow in applying the use of targeted therapies in the treatment of patients with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA).

Protecting patients with cancer from financial hardship can save more than money. According to data presented at the 2020 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, mitigating the financial burden of cancer treatment on patients may save lives as well.

According to long-term follow-up data presented at the ASCO 2020 virtual annual meeting, anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has demonstrated ongoing durable remissions lasting up to 113 months for follicular lymphoma, 99 months for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and 97 months for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL).

There is a new standard of care in the first-line treatment setting for the subset of patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) that is associated with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR), according to data presented at the ASCO 2020 virtual annual meeting.

A novel intratumoral chemotherapy agent delivered by direct injection permits the dispersion of cytotoxic drugs into cancer cells to eradicate tumors.

An analysis of the Value Framework of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) shows that the Net Health Benefit score of cancer drugs continues to evolve over time after their FDA approval, based on data presented at the ASCO 2020 virtual annual meeting. This analysis showed a substantial change in more than 25% of cancer drugs in their Net Health Benefit 3 years after their initial approval.

Cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo), a new PD-1 inhibitor, has transformed the treatment of advanced cutaneous squamous-cell carcinoma (CSCC), significantly extending survival for patients.

As the complexity of cancer care continues to evolve, adhering to evidence-based treatment guidelines is a growing challenge for oncologists. The use of clinical decision support tools within the electronic health record (EHR) system can boost provider compliance and drive quality improvement, according to data presented at the ASCO 2020 virtual annual meeting.