January 2019

Genetic aberrations across cancer types were the driving force behind drug approvals in 2018.

Nonadherence to endocrine therapy may explain why black women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer have higher mortality rates than white women, despite historically lower incidence rates.

D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, discusses the crowded landscape of oncogene-driven non–small cell lung cancer.

Increasing clinical relevance of less common gene signatures and alterations is leading to a benefit from broad-panel next-generation sequencing testing for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer, according to an expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

The use of big data is revolutionizing many industries, allowing greater insights by drilling into evidence with more detail.

In November 2018, the FDA issued a draft guidance recommending metastasis-free survival as an endpoint in drug trials for nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, suggesting a major change in expectations for treatment of this tumor type.

The FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapies have instituted a new era of effective cancer therapies for patients and are the most expensive treatments to date. Now, physicians are faced with financial implications before introducing these novel agents into clinical practice.

Pressure on regulators to reduce healthcare costs could be a response to the estimated $1 trillion in US expenditures from poor care coordination, administrative burdens, and fraud, said Jeff Mortier, partner at Farragut Partners, during the Community Oncology Alliance Payer Exchange Summit.