Articles
It was on the front page of my newspaper. It is in the data services I subscribe to for the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. It is the feature of a new survey from the Hematology Oncology Pharmacy Association and is the lead-in for the Pharmacists’ Newsletter. It is on the nightly news, and it was explored in depth in the last issue of the Journal of Hematology Oncology Pharmacy (JHOP).
North America is facing a shortage of certain drugs, and you do not have to be a pharmacist buyer tasked with procurement to realize our drug supply is under pressure. Governmental and professional groups—including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), Association of Community Cancer Center, and American Pharmacists Associ ation, among others—have been stating that this is a serious problem that may not be resolved anytime soon.
More than 1 million patients receive cancer treatment in an outpatient oncology clinic each year. Unfortunately, infections from both community and healthcare settings remain a key reason for hospitalization and death among cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. In an effort to help shield this at-risk patient population, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is introducing a new program that includes tools to assist both clinicians and patients in the prevention of infections.
After determining that the drug is unsafe and ineffective for breast cancer treatment, the FDA recently revoked the agency’s approval of the breast cancer indication involving Avastin use in combination with paclitaxel for patients with HER2-negative breast cancer.
Severe high blood pressure; bleeding and hemorrhaging; heart attack or heart failure; and the development of perforations in different parts of the body such as the nose, stomach, and intestines are the risks included with the use of bevacizumab.
A national support and advocacy group for those at risk for or living with lung cancer, Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA), recently issued its annual National Report Card on Lung Cancer. This report is a general assessment of the nation’s response to the ongoing high mortality rate of lung cancer.
Women without the BRCA gene mutation don’t have a heightened risk of breast cancer, even if they have relatives who carry one of the mutations themselves, according to a new study by Stanford University researchers.
The recent findings refute a 2007 study, which stated that such women could have a 2 to 5 times higher risk of developing breast cancer compared with the general population, even if their test for the 2 genetic mutations was negative.
Many US oncologists say they are good at managing their patients’ pain, yet they consider their pain management training to be poor, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
A new epigenetic therapy has shown potential for patients with recurrent metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a recent issue of Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
While disruptive and of growing concern to patients and clinicians, the current drug shortages in the US are limited mainly to generic injectables and a small number of disease areas, according to Drug Shortages: A Closer Look at Products, Suppliers and Volume Volatility, an IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics study.
The report’s findings include: