The May issue of The Oncology Pharmacist (TOP) is filled with important news and insights for today’s oncology pharmacist. We begin our coverage with highlights of a recent webinar from the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care (AVBCC), in which healthcare experts addressed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on oncology delivery systems and the management of patients with cancer.
In a key session, Scott Gottlieb, MD, Former FDA Commissioner, provided an assessment of where the pandemic is heading in the near future. He cautioned that although infections will ease in the coming weeks, the number of hospitalizations and deaths will lag diagnoses, sometimes significantly (See Here).
In a separate session, Michael Reff, RPh, MBA, President, National Community Oncology Dispensing Association, and Ray Bailey, BPharm, RPh, Pharmacy Director, Florida Cancer Specialists, Fort Myers, discussed important modifications that oncology pharmacies are making to keep staff and patients safe during the coronavirus pandemic (See Here).
We also feature highlights of key presentations from national oncology meetings, including data on newer combinations for the treatment of various types of malignancies.
During a session at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, FACP, Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, discussed results from the BEACON CRC clinical trial, which compared the safety and efficacy of encorafenib plus cetuximab with or without binimetinib versus the current standard of care in the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and BRAF V600E mutation. Results showed that the median overall survival associated with the use of the 2-drug regimen was equal to that of the 3-drug regimen (See Here).
At the 2020 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, David F. Penson, MD, MPH, MMHC, Hamilton and Howd Chair in Urologic Oncology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, highlighted the need to move toward patient-centered decisions beyond survival, focusing on patient-centered outcomes by integrating quality of life and financial toxicity into the decision-making process (See Here).
“Financial toxicity should be considered an adverse event of therapy, similar to other side effects of treatment,” Dr Penson said.
As always, we hope you will enjoy this issue of TOP, and we invite you to share your feedback about this issue with us or send comments. We look forward to receiving your feedback.