TOP - November 2018, Vol 11, No 3

Chicago, IL—People often use the terms “value” and “quality” interchangeably, but they are not the same. In the healthcare landscape, value pertains to health outcomes that matter to patients, taking into account the cost of delivering those outcomes, whereas the Institute of Medicine defines quality as “the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge.” Read More ›

Chicago, IL—Moving nelarabine (Arranon), a T-cell–specific drug, up front combined with backbone chemotherapy (ie, COG-augmented Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster [aBFM]) improved ­survival by approximately 10% in the largest-­ever randomized clinical trial enrolling newly diagnosed children and young adults with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LL). Read More ›

A claims analysis of elderly patients with pancreatic cancer has shown that those receiving early palliative care consultations had lower healthcare utilization than patients who received late palliative care. Data presented at ASCO 2018 showed that patients who received palliative care within 4 weeks of diagnosis had fewer visits to the emergency department (2.4 vs 3.0, respectively; P <.001) and lower emergency department–related costs ($3043 vs $4117, respectively; P <.001). According to the study investigators, these findings provide real-world evidence to support oncology societies’ recommendations for the early integration of palliative care. Read More ›

According to Julie Kinnerly-Shah, PharmD, MS, MHA, BCPS, one of the most important things to consider when implementing CAR T-cell therapy is the various roles and responsibilities that are required. Read More ›

“Tumor reductions and durable responses were observed in most patients, especially those whose cancers progressed with chemotherapy and multikinase inhibitors,” said Vivek Subbiah, MD, at the 2018 AACR meeting. Read More ›

Chicago, IL—Business intelligence is the process of collecting data from disparate systems internally and externally, and turning it into information that is meaningful and actionable toward achieving strategic goals. Read More ›

In response to these gaps in the literature, Dr Palumbo and her colleagues sought to evaluate whether patient-centered therapy management software, in conjunction with use of electronic medical records (EMRs), would be valuable in completing pharmacist activities and capturing patient outcomes. Read More ›

A novel approach using the investigational toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist CMP-001 in combination with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) may have the potential to reverse resistance to anti–PD-1 therapy, according to data from a preliminary phase 1b clinical trial. Read More ›

In a genomic study of more than 15,000 tumor samples, 16% of individuals with MSI-H tumors were later found to have Lynch syndrome. Zsofia Kinga Stadler, MD, Clinic Director, Clinical Genetics Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, presented the results at a press briefing at ASCO 2018. Read More ›

Chicago, IL—The current standard of care for women with early, HER2-positive breast cancer is 12 months of trastuzumab (Herceptin). Analysis of the phase 3 randomized clinical trial PERSEPHONE showed that 6 months of treatment with trastuzumab was noninferior to 12 months in terms of disease-free survival. Read More ›