WHAT: Clinical trials often provide patients with life-threatening conditions the best - perhaps only - treatment option for their condition. However, unlike Medicare and private and commercial payers, Medicaid is not federally required to cover routine care costs (like physician visits and laboratory studies) for patients on clinical trials. Without the guarantee of coverage, many Medicaid beneficiaries do not have the latest technological and scientific advancements as a treatment option. 

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) today released a position statement on state drug repository programs, outlining ASCO’s support for drug repository programs solely for oral medications provided they are maintained within a closed system. The Society also makes recommendations to help ensure that these programs are implemented appropriately, with sufficient patient protections in place. 

Thirty-three practices in three countries have committed to providing high quality care by receiving the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Certification in the fourth quarter of 2019. The Association for Clinical Oncology (Association) applauds the work of these practices to ensure a better and healthier future.

*This press release was updated on February 12, 2020.

SAN FRANCISCO - Positive findings from the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) Study cohorts on the potential benefit of various molecularly targeted drugs in patients with advanced colorectal cancer will be presented at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, taking place January 23-25, 2020 at the Moscone West Building in San Francisco, California.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A blood-based screening test using cell-free DNA to identify methylation signals of hard-to-detect gastrointestinal (GI) cancers that could potentially help detect cancer at earlier stages will be presented 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, taking place January 23-25 in San Francisco, California.

“The potential of this test is to diagnose cancer earlier, when it’s more treatable. The ability to do that across cancer types could be quite valuable. Many of the cancer types that this test detects don’t currently have screening tests that allow earlier cancer detection before the cancers cause symptoms,” said lead investigator Brian M. Wolpin, MD, MPH, who is Director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center and Director of the Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

In general, GI cancers are difficult to identify early. The GI organs are deep inside the body, so small tumors can’t easily be seen or felt during routine physical exams. No screening tests are available for cancers like gallbladder, bile duct, and pancreatic cancer. Screening exams do exist for other types of GI cancers, such as colorectal and stomach cancer, but many of these tests are invasive. When GI cancers are diagnosed, they are often at advanced stages that are more difficult to treat. An accurate test based on a simple blood sample could lead to earlier diagnosis for GI cancers.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A retrospective analysis of 26,768 young adults age 40 and under found that those who live in areas with lower income (less than $38,000) and lower education (under 79% high school graduation rate), as well as those who live in urban areas, had worse outcomes and a higher risk of death. The results will be presented at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, taking place January 23-25 in San Francisco, California.

Each year more than 16,000 people under age 50 are diagnosed with colorectal cancer in the United States, and incidence rates among this population have risen 51% since 1994 with the sharpest increase among those age 20 to 29[1]. 

“There are a lot of disparities in health care,” said lead author, Ashley Matusz-Fisher, MD, Levine Cancer Institute, Charlotte, NC. “It is important to look at the sociodemographic disparities so that we can learn more and try to eliminate them.”