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Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act was associated with significant increases in breast reconstruction surgery among non-Hispanic black women and women with lower income and education levels, according to results of a study presented during the American Society of Breast Surgeons 22nd Annual Meeting. At times, these increases achieved parity with non-Hispanic white women. Read More ›

Infusion centers face significant challenges related to lengthy wait times and uneven patient loads, which can negatively affect clinical outcomes and cause unnecessary burdens for nurses or other healthcare providers. Oncology Practice Management (OPM) recently spoke with Abbi Bruce, RN, MS, OCN, Program Director, Medical Oncology and Infusion Services, Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute at Hartford Hospital, CT, who discussed some of the factors that contribute to the complexity of infusion scheduling, and effective strategies for solving these problems. Read More ›

Selpercatinib (Retevmo) demonstrated antitumor activity in RET fusion–positive tumors other than lung cancer and thyroid cancer, according to interim results from the phase 1/2 LIBRETTO-001 clinical trial. Results from the trial were presented by Vivek Subbiah, MD, Medical Director, Clinical Center for Targeted Therapy, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, at the 2021 virtual American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting. Read More ›

Data aggregation and management challenges for community oncology practices are becoming more complicated with the advent and application of precision medicine. As advances are made in clinical molecular technologies, and the volume, velocity, and value of this data increases, adjustments must be made to incorporate informatics approaches to inform data-driven decision-making through robust and reliable integration of multiple heterogeneous data sources into one consolidated analytics platform. Read More ›

On May 28, 2021, the FDA granted accelerated approval to infigratinib (Truseltiq; QED Therapeutics, Inc), an oral FGFR1-3 selective inhibitor, for the treatment of adults with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) with an FGFR2 fusion or other rearrangement. The FDA previously granted infigratinib orphan drug and fast-track designations. Read More ›

On May 28, 2021, the FDA accelerated the approval of sotorasib (Lumakras; Amgen), an oral KRAS inhibitor of the RAS GTPase family, for the treatment of adults with locally advanced or metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) associated with KRAS G12C mutation, as determined by an FDA-approved test, after ≥1 systemic therapies. The FDA granted sotorasib orphan drug and breakthrough therapy designations. Read More ›

On May 21, 2021, the FDA accelerated the approval of amivantamab-vmjw (Rybrevant; Janssen/Johnson & Johnson), a bispecific antibody targeting mutations in the EGFR and MET pathways, for adults with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that is associated with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations, as detected by the FDA-approved Guardant360 CDx test, which was approved on the same day as a companion diagnostic for amivantamab. The FDA had granted amivantamab a breakthrough therapy designation for this indication. Read More ›

On May 5, 2021, the FDA accelerated the approval of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda; Merck & Co), in combination with trastuzumab plus fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy, for the first-line treatment of adult patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma. Read More ›