All Oncology News

Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University's Kimmel Cancer Center have developed a model for the establishment of a comprehensive multidisciplinary geriatric oncology center to help combat the over or under treatment that elderly oncology patients often face.

Collecting payments from patients is difficult, so practices need to adapt so that collecting revenue from patients comes just as easily as collecting reimbursement from insurers.

Keith T. Flaherty, MD, discusses upcoming combination therapies being explored in melanoma, specifically those involving CDK4/6, BRAF/MEK, immune checkpoints, and other novel approaches.

The reductions in reimbursement for chemotherapy drugs after passage of the Medical Modernization Act (MMA) had a distinct effect on the administration of cancer drugs for patients in the last 14 days of life.

Treatment with the investigational oral agent TAS-102 significantly improved overall survival in a phase III trial for patients with heavily pretreated metastatic colorectal cancer.

The combination of the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib with the investigational MEK inhibitor cobimetinib was safe and effective in treatment-naive patients with BRAFV600 mutation-positive metastatic melanoma.

With the growth of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and cuts to reimbursement fees for chemotherapy that is administered in physician offices

The FDA has assigned a priority review designation to the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (MK-3475) as a treatment for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma following progression on ipilimumab.

The FDA has approved subcutaneous omacetaxine mepesuccinate injection for home administration in patients with chronic or accelerated phase CML who are resistant or intolerant to treatment with TKIs.

Payment reform in oncology is not new, but since most of the models proposed in the past have required wholesale changes in practice, care delivery, or administrative structure, oncology practices have been reluctant to embrace significant change.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have released a tool to look up an individual clinician's reimbursement record, but its ease of use remains to be seen.

The addition of the investigational agent MM-398 (PEP02) to standard second-line chemotherapy significantly improved overall survival in a phase III trial for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

The MEDCAC ruling will likely lead to non-coverage of lung cancer screening with low dose CT scans for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.

A review study of trends in patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer from 1975 to 2009 suggest the cancer has been overdiagnosed, and therefore overtreated, according to Louise Davies, MD, MS, and H. Gilbert Welch, MD, MPH.

The FDA has approved the next-generation ALK inhibitor ceritinib as a treatment for ALK-positive patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer following treatment with crizotinib.

Cardiologists and cancer experts at The Mount Sinai Hospital have joined forces to establish its first Cardio-Oncology Clinic at The Tisch Cancer Institute.

Only 44% of large physician practices, hospitals, and health care systems have reported adopting a bundled payment system.

The combination of custirsen (OGX-011) with docetaxel and prednisone failed to significantly extend survival as a first-line treatment for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer

With the recent economic downturn and a proliferation of patients enrolled in high deductible health plans, oncology practices are placed in the unenviable position of having to collect payments from patients.

The FDA has approved the cobas HPV Test as a first-line screening tool for cervical cancer in women 25 and older, making it the first-ever approval for a diagnostic alternative to Pap smear.

The FDA has approved the anti-IL-6 chimeric monoclonal antibody siltuximab as a treatment for HIV- and HHV-8-negative patients with multicentric Castleman's disease.

A novel immunotherapeutic known as IMCgp100 induced clinical responses with manageable toxicity in patients with advanced melanoma

GSK and Novartis have struck a deal that will move all of GSK's oncology assets to Novartis, all of Novartis' non-flu-related vaccines to GSK, and will result in a joint consumer healthcare venture.

Employing nonphysician providers (NPPs) by physician practices has grown in the past 15 years

The FDA has approved the VEGFR-2 inhibitor ramucirumab as a treatment for patients with patients with unresectable gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, based on a significant extension in OS.

In addition to the clinical skills lectures included in medical school curriculum, second-year medical students at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, NJ, are also receiving a course in understanding the basics of billing and coding

Talimogene laherparepvec significantly improved durable response rates but failed to extend overall survival in patients with advanced melanoma.

The FDA has approved ofatumumab plus chlorambucil for previously untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who are considered inappropriate for treatment with fludarabine therapy.

Among physicians, oncologists fall slightly above the middle in terms of compensation, with average earnings reported at $290,000.

Even as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) examines the implications of the ICD-10 delay there are some steps oncology and hematology practice managers can take now before the rollout gets into full swing.