November 2020, Vol 10, No 11

A real-world analysis showed that adjuvant immunotherapy in patients with stage III melanoma improved survival, but that only approximately 33% of eligible patients received such adjuvant therapy after ipilimumab (Yervoy) was approved by the FDA for this indication. Read More ›

Patients with cancer and cancer treatment dynamics continue to bounce back toward baseline as of late summer 2020, reported experts at the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care August 20 webcast, which focused on economic trends in cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More ›

When it comes to your company, there is no greater asset than a healthy team culture. As it has been said many times, “Team culture eats company strategy for breakfast.” You can have the best strategy, the strongest marketing, and the greatest profitability. However, if you do not also have a healthy team culture, your long-term success is doomed to failure. Read More ›

The urgent international push to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus represents an unprecedented effort, said experts at the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care’s final summer webinar on COVID-19 and cancer care, which was held August 27. Read More ›

On August 17, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its proposed plans for payment and reporting changes for 2021. In contrast to previous years on record, the final rule is likely to be released in early December instead of early November. This means that there may be less than 30 days to prepare and implement changes prior to January 1, 2021. Read More ›

Value-based drug purchasing, better coordination of care delivery, and earlier institution of palliative care were among the measures to lower the cost of cancer care that were suggested during a panel discussion at the 2020 virtual National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Oncology Policy Summit. The discussion was moderated by Clifford Goodman, PhD, Senior Vice President, Comparative Effectiveness Research, the Lewin Group. Read More ›

Value-based or alternative payment models have yet to deliver the cost-savings in oncology hoped for when these models were proposed, said experts at the 2020 virtual National Comprehensive Cancer Network Oncology Policy Summit during a panel discussion on best practices for value-based agreements. Read More ›

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only resulted in adjustments to the current Oncology Care Model (OCM), but it has led to considerations for future models, said Lara M. Strawbridge, MPH, Director, Ambulatory Payment Models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), Washington, DC, during the 2020 virtual National Comprehensive Cancer Network Oncology Policy Summit. Read More ›

Adding the oral cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)4/CDK6 inhibitor abemaciclib (Verzenio) to endocrine therapy led to a significant reduction in the risk for invasive disease recurrence versus endocrine therapy alone in patients with high-risk hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer, according to findings from the phase 3 monarchE clinical trial. The results were presented at the 2020 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) virtual meeting and were featured at the meeting press conference. Read More ›

PARP inhibition is moving on from breast and ovarian cancer to the treatment of patients with prostate cancer and BRCA1/2 mutation. Olaparib (Lynparza) reduced the risk for death by 31% versus enzalutamide (Xtandi) or abiraterone (Zytiga) in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and BRCA1 or BRCA2, and to a lesser extent ATM mutations, according to the final analysis of the phase 3 PROfound trial. Read More ›