November 2023, Vol 13, No 11
Navigating today’s healthcare system can be challenging for anyone, but for older adults, it can be especially difficult. From scheduling appointments to engaging with clinicians to interpreting health insurance coverage, trying to secure the best medical care can be overwhelming, resulting in poor clinical outcomes, emotional distress, and reduced quality of life. Read More ›
Philadelphia, PA—Patients with pancreatic cancer who took the benzodiazepine lorazepam (Ativan), commonly prescribed to treat anxiety during cancer treatment, had a shorter progression-free survival than patients who did not, according to results published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Read More ›
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has issued an update to its guidelines for the practical assessment and management of vulnerabilities in patients aged ≥65 years receiving systemic cancer treatment. The new recommendations, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, build on the Society’s previous guidance, published in 2018. Read More ›
Drinking alcohol increases the risk of at least 7 types of cancers. For people being treated for cancer, regularly consuming a few beers or cocktails also has other potentially harmful consequences, including making their treatments less effective. And for longer-term cancer survivors, there is some evidence that regular alcohol use may increase the chances of their cancer returning. Read More ›
Washington, DC—On September 6, 2023, the Association for Accessible Medicines, the leading trade association for generic and biosimilar manufacturers, released its 2023 U.S. Generic & Biosimilar Medicines Savings Report highlighting the value of generic and biosimilar medicines. Read More ›
Two years ago, Lucy would never have imagined that she would one day be the director of a marketing department. At the time, she was the manager of a manufacturing company in her hometown when she and 15 other employees were told they were being laid off. The shock and immediate fear were palpable. She questioned what she would do and whether she would struggle to find another job because of her age. Suddenly, she found herself in a position where she had to reevaluate who she was and what she wanted to be “when she grew up.” Read More ›
By Anne Rowe
Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots showed mixed results when it came to providing treatment strategies and direct-to-patient cancer advice for a variety of malignancies, according to 2 studies recently published in JAMA Oncology. Read More ›
On September 11, 2023, the FDA approved motixafortide (Aphexda; BioLineRx) subcutaneous injection, a hematopoietic stem cell mobilizer, for use in combination with the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor filgrastim (Neupogen; Amgen), to mobilize HSCs to the peripheral blood for collection and subsequent autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with multiple myeloma. Motixafortide is the first novel stem cell mobilizer in a decade to receive FDA approval for multiple myeloma. Read More ›
On October 16, 2023, the FDA approved a new indication for pembrolizumab (Keytruda; Merck), a PD-1 inhibitor, combined with platinum-containing chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment, and with continuation of single-agent pembrolizumab as postsurgical adjuvant treatment for resectable (tumors ≥4 cm or node positive) non–small cell lung cancer. Read More ›
On October 13, 2023, the FDA approved a new indication for nivolumab (Opdivo; Bristol-Myers Squibb), a PD-1 inhibitor, for the adjuvant treatment of completely resected stage IIB/C melanoma in patients aged ≥12 years. The FDA granted this application an orphan drug designation. Read More ›
On October 11, 2023, the FDA approved a new indication for encorafenib (Braftovi; Array BioPharma) combined with binimetinib (Mektovi; Array BioPharma) for adults with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer and a BRAFV600E mutation, as detected by an FDA-approved test. Read More ›