Articles
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS has added coverage of telehealth services as part of a push by the agency to accelerate the use of telehealth by removing reimbursement barriers.
The international phase 3 INOVATYON clinical trial did not meet its primary end point of an improvement in overall survival with trabectedin added to pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) followed by platinum at progression compared with carboplatin plus PLD in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. Trabectedin plus PLD may still have a role in patients with multiple previous lines of platinum.
In the treatment of patients with platinum-sensitive, recurrent ovarian cancer, a lower starting dose of niraparib in patients with a low body weight (77 kg) or low platelet count (150,000/μL) had similar efficacy as the fixed 300-mg starting dose versus placebo on the end point of progression-free survival, confirming a previous observation.
A review of the National Cancer Database reveals that use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer increased markedly between 2004 and 2016. At the same time, median survival improved by more than 6 months. Study authors found no association between the 2 trends.
Data from a real-world setting show that a platinum-free interval >12 months was associated with the best outcomes after progression on PARP inhibitor maintenance in patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer.
On September 4, 2020, the FDA accelerated the approval of pralsetinib (Gavreto; Blueprint Medicines/Genentech), an oral RET inhibitor, for the treatment of adults with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and RET-activating fusions, as detected by an FDA-approved test.
Amina Ahmed, MD, Paula Anastasia, RN, MN, AOCN, and Ali McBride, PharmD, MS, consider the current and future use of immunotherapy, either alone or in combination with other agents such as PARP inhibitors, as first-line maintenance therapy in ovarian cancer.
The November issue of The Oncology Pharmacist (TOP) features important news and insights for today’s oncology pharmacist, including highlights from recent virtual oncology conferences, which cover a range of topics, from efforts underway to improve access to treatment for individuals with cancer during the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency, to safety and efficacy data on novel agents and combination regimens being used to improve outcomes in patients with hematologic malignancies or solid tumors.
Many cancer vaccines have been studied, but thus far the search has been unsuccessful. Results from a new study suggest that the combination of a messenger (mRNA)-based personalized cancer vaccine (known as RO7198457) plus the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab (Tecentriq) shows promise for the treatment of advanced cancer.
By William King
Value-based drug purchasing, better coordination of care delivery, and earlier institution of palliative care were among the measures to lower the cost of cancer care that were suggested during a panel discussion at the 2020 virtual National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Oncology Policy Summit.