We are pleased to present the January issue of The Oncology Pharmacist (TOP), a publication aimed at educating, empowering, and engaging today’s pharmacy professionals working in the field of oncology. As we kick off the new year, we are renewing our commitment to providing you with the latest news from premiere oncology meetings, insights from thought leaders and policy makers, and a variety of professional development resources that can be used to improve the day-to-day operations of your practice. As 2023 unfolds, we will also be unveiling exciting new features that will give you the opportunity to expand your knowledge as well as interact with colleagues and experts in the field.
We begin this issue with coverage from several important meetings held in the latter part of 2022. At the 12th Annual Summit of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care in 2022, a panel of experts discussed the current state of value-based agreements in pharma and what lies ahead, including valuable opportunities and ongoing challenges (see here).
At the 64th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Jennifer R. Brown, MD, PhD, Director, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, and Worthington Margaret Collette Professor of Medicine, Hematologic Oncology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, discussed promising data from the phase 3 ALPINE trial, which may lead to a new standard of care for patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (see here).
“Zanubrutinib not only improves the response rate, it also improves progression-free survival compared to ibrutinib, including in our highest risk patients,” she stated during her presentation.
This issue also features encouraging findings presented during the recent 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, which may offer new hope for patients diagnosed with various types of breast malignancies.
In one of the noteworthy sessions at this meeting, Nicholas Turner, MD, PhD, Professor, Molecular Oncology, The Institute of Cancer Research, The Royal Marsden NSH Foundation Trust, London, England, UK, presented results from the CAPItello-291 trial, which showed a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival when capivasertib, an investigational first-in-class AKT inhibitor, was combined with fulvestrant (Faslodex) for the treatment of patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-low or -negative, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer (see here).
This issue of TOP also features news and expert commentary on the evolving role of generic and biosimilar drugs in oncology, which will no doubt continue to be a hot topic in 2023, as well as an overview of new cancer drugs and new indications recently approved by the FDA.
We hope you will enjoy this issue of TOP, and we invite you to visit www.TheOncologyPharmacist.com to share your feedback about this issue with us or send comments to