January 2020, Vol 10, No 1

An increasing number of biosimilars have been approved in the United States, but many clinicians are still poorly informed about what constitutes a biosimilar, and what is involved in their unique pathway to approval, said Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, Medical Oncologist, Division of Hematologic Malignancies, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City. He discussed this topic at the NCCN 2019 Hematologic Malignancies meeting. Read Article ›

Osimertinib (Tagrisso), a third-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), extended overall survival (OS) compared with older TKI EGFR inhibitors, including gefitinib (Iressa) or erlotinib (Tarceva), as first-line treatment for patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and EGFR mutation in the phase 3 clinical trial called FLAURA. Read Article ›

Genetic cancer screening and testing are valuable tools that can be used for the early detection of familial/hereditary cancer syndromes. However, people living in rural, medically underserved areas may have difficulty accessing these potentially life-saving services. Read Article ›

Personalization of therapy in the treatment of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is focused primarily on risk classification of patients. Once clinical risk has been established, treatment considerations should be informed by features such as disease subtype, prognostic somatic mutations, chromosomal abnormalities, targetable somatic mutations, immunologic features, and patient factors, according to Rafael Bejar, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA. Read Article ›

The immunotherapy combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) improved overall survival (OS) compared with chemotherapy as first-line treatment in patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and PD-L1 expression ≥1%, according to results of CheckMate 227. The OS was also improved with nivolu­mab plus ipilimu­mab compared with chemotherapy in the total study population and in patients whose tumors had low (<1%) PD-L1 expression. Read Article ›

Steroids plus exercise could be the best combination for treating fatigue in patients with advanced cancer, according to data presented at the 2019 Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium. Read Article ›

There is no shortage of research on psychosocial issues in patients with cancer, but implementation of this evidence in clinical practice has a long way to go, according to data presented at the 2019 Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium. Read Article ›

By its very nature, oncology is rife with change, with new research resulting in treatment advances at a rapid pace. Pending federal legislation aimed at reining in prescription drug prices and an upcoming presidential election may introduce yet further changes in oncology. A discussion on these issues was presented at the 2019 AVBCC Summit in October, with a look at the oncology landscape. Read Article ›

With cancer drugs representing some of the most expensive pharmaceuticals on the market, conversations abound around value in oncology and proposed solutions for achieving it. At the 2019 AVBCC Summit, experts on the topic of drug pricing hashed out which frameworks are best suited for real-world applications in cancer care. Read Article ›

Patients with cancer are not just faced with a terrifying disease; they must also surmount an uphill climb when it comes to accessing care. Advocates—some of whom have shared in their experiences as patients—are hard at work to ensure access is a reality. A roundtable discussion of patient advocates at the 2019 AVBCC Summit focused on identifying the major obstacles to care and what can be done to improve patient access. Read Article ›