All Oncology News

The addition of lenalidomide to R-CHOP demonstrated promising efficacy in previously untreated patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma across all subtypes of the disease.

Although the Affordable Care Act (ACA) made accessibility to health insurance easier, consumers are finding themselves shouldering greater out-of-pocket costs in the form of copayments and deductibles for the care that they receive. Physicians are also feeling the need to collect more fees from more of their patients.

Starting in January 2015, Medicare will begin paying physicians for the care coordination they provide beneficiaries with chronic conditions.

Pfizer has submitted a New Drug Application for palbociclib plus letrozole as a frontline treatment for postmenopausal women with ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, based on findings from the phase II PALOMA-1 trial.

Patients with Medicaid insurance and those without insurance were more likely to present with distant disease than patients with private insurance, according to results presented in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The FDA has approved bevacizumab in combination with paclitaxel and cisplatin or paclitaxel and topotecan as a treatment for patients with persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer.

Treatment with single-agent carfilzomib (Kyprolis) was unable to significantly extend overall survival (OS) compared with best supportive care in heavily pretreated patients with multiple myeloma

The favorable safety profile of T-DM1 makes it apt to be looked at in other settings of breast cancer.

The ever-evolving treatment landscape for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer leaves several questions unanswered regarding therapeutic sequences and whether an optimal standard of care exists.

The FDA has approved the noninvasive stool-based DNA test Cologuard for the detection of colorectal cancer or cancer precursors in asymptomatic patients at average risk.

A multipractice oncology medical home model, the Michigan Oncology Medical Home Demonstration Project (MOMHDP), reported preliminary first-year results that tallied an estimated savings per patient of $550.33, according to an abstract in the Journal of Oncology Practice.

A Florida accountable care organization (ACO) is reporting $22 million in savings during its first year, with a shared savings of $11 million.

A preliminary analysis has shown that eribulin mesylate failed to meet its primary endpoint of improving overall survival in pre-treated patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

The FDA has expanded the bortezomib (Velcade) label to allow for retreatment in patients with multiple myeloma who previously responded to the proteasome inhibitor, according to an announcement made by Millennium/Takeda, the companies that manufacture the drug.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) took down its Web site that verifies payments from pharmaceutical companies to physicians, after at least 1 doctor had payments attributed to him that were actually made to someone else.

Women harboring a loss-of-function mutation in the PALB2 gene demonstrated an increased risk of developing breast cancer that was similar to the predisposition seen with mutations in the infamous BRCA gene

Co-management agreements between hospitals and medical practices can be mutually beneficial to both parties, but proper execution is required to realize the benefits.

A regional bundled payment system has hit a roadblock in California, according to a study in Health Affairs. The program failed to meet its goals, succumbed to recruitment challenges, faced regulatory uncertainty, and sputtered under administrative burdens.

The FDA has assigned a priority review designation to the JAK1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib as treatment for patients with polycythemia vera who are resistant or intolerant to hydroxyurea

The US Department of Health and Human Services has finalized Oct. 1, 2015, as the new compliance date for providers and payers to transition to ICD-10.

The combination of carfilzomib (Kyprolis), lenalidomide (Revlimid), and low-dose dexamethasone extended progression-free survival (PFS) by 8.7 months compared with lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone for patients with relapsed multiple myeloma

A new health policy brief issued by Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation explains the origin of these differential payments and the debate over approaches that have been proposed for developing so called "site neutral" payments.

Having financial counselors on staff is becoming a new reality for oncology practices as patients are responsible for out-of-pocket costs and more are participating in health insurance exchanges, says an article in Healthcare Finance News.

Results of an early-phase study have shown the combination of afatinib (Gilotrif) and cetuximab (Erbitux) has utility in EGFR-mutant lung cancer patients who have developed resistance to gefitinib (Tarceva) and erlotinib (Iressa).

The FDA has expanded the approval of ibrutinib to include the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have received at least one previous therapy and harbor a 17p deletion.

A phase III trial analyzing sorafenib for the treatment of patients with advanced breast cancer did not meet its primary endpoint of improving progression-free survival.

It looks like e-prescribing through the use of electronic health records (EHRs) is here to stay according to findings from the July 2014 "ONC Data Brief," issued by The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

The FDA has approved idelalisib in combination with rituximab for patients with high-risk relapsed or refractory CLL and as a single-agent for two types of iNHL.

Extended adjuvant treatment with neratinib (PB272, HKI-272) significantly extended improved disease-free survival (DFS) compared with placebo for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer who received prior adjuvant trastuzumab

The FDA has assigned a priority review designation to bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with chemotherapy for patients with recurrent platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.