September 2016

A move by CVS Health to place in-house physician dispensaries out-of-network for purposes of Medicare Part D drug payment would force hundreds of thousands of cancer patients across the country to find alternate sources for their oral oncolytic drugs, the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) argued in a new white paper.

For the first time, Physicians’ Education Resource (PER®) will host 2 European conferences, providing more opportunities for oncology professionals worldwide to learn and collaborate with leading experts in the fields.

Although there are no drugs yet that target TP53 mutations in any tumor type, a recent analysis of a non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) sample set raises the prospect that a more detailed understanding of this aberration could eventually help direct therapy.

Two oncologists from Emory University School of Medicine faced off to determine if molecular markers should play a role in the treatment of subgroups of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. 

Targeting NTRK fusions is a new treatment option being explored for patients with papillary thyroid cancer. 

Lynette M. Sholl, MD, discusses advancements in molecular diagnostics that have led to the development of numerous single-gene assays for the detection of genetic mutations that can be targeted in the treatment of cancers.

Dmitriy Zamarin, MD, PhD, details 5 categories of immunotherapy strategies currently undergoing development.

Recent randomized clinical trials that have combined immunotherapy with chemotherapy, molecular therapy, or anti-angiogenic therapy for the treatment of patients with lung cancer have shown promising results for these combinations. 

Jennifer Brown, MD, PhD, discusses the status of targeted therapy agents for the treatment of patients with CLL.

A genetic understanding of dMMR in rectal cancer could lead the way to precision medicine for these subgroups of patients

As new drugs and combinations gain approvals for a broad range of malignancies, there is a growing need for disease-specific recommendations to help guide the integration of immunotherapy treatments into current practice. 

Although prostate cancer was among the first tumor types to be studied with immunotherapy treatments, prostate cancer appears to not be immunologic, according to Susan F. Slovin, MD, PhD.