ASCO 2019 Highlights

Reduced-dose chemotherapy is as effective as full-dose chemotherapy in frail elderly patients with advanced gastroesophageal cancer, according to results of the phase 3 GO2 clinical trial presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. Lower doses of oxaliplatin plus capecitabine (OCap) led to similar survival but improved quality of life compared with higher doses of that regimen in this patient population.

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Results from a new clinical trial suggest that limited access to care is the main contributing factor to the disparities in outcomes that exist between African-American patients and white patients with cancer. Read More ›

Although clinical trials are essential for evaluating novel therapies and determining the most effective treatment options for patients with cancer, participation in these trials remains low, especially among ethnic and racial minorities. At the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, Kessely Hong, PhD, MPA, Faculty Chair, MPA Programs, and Lecturer, Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, MA, and Electra D. Paskett, PhD, Marion N. Rowley Professor of Cancer Research, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, discussed strategies to enhance clinical trial enrollment and retention. Read More ›

The FDA has announced the launch of an oncology-specific pilot program for physicians and patients who need access to investigational therapies. The expanded access pilot program is a concierge service, said Richard Pazdur, MD, Director, FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence, who spoke at a press conference at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. Read More ›

Formed 10 years ago with the Affordable Care Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has been tasked with developing new payment and delivery models designed to improve the efficiency of specialty care. Among those specialty models is the Oncology Care Model, which aims to improve cancer care delivery by providing higher quality, more coordinated care to Medicare beneficiaries at the same or lower cost than under traditional fee-for-service structures. At the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, Lara M. Strawbridge, MPH, Director, Division of Ambulatory Payment Models, Patient Care Models Group, CMMI, shared recent data from the model, which began in 2016 and is scheduled to run through the middle of 2021. Read More ›