ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The number of international practices certified in delivering high-quality cancer care based on rigorous standards established by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is increasing. The Medisprof Cancer Center in Romania joins six other practices in Brazil, Greece, and Spain in achieving ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Certification.

Alexandria, Va. — CancerLinQ LLC, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO®), has announced that Stanford Health Care has signed an agreement to participate in the CancerLinQ® platform. Stanford Health Care includes Stanford Cancer Institute which is designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

Alexandria, Va. —In a new position statement, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) warns that some of the practices of pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) companies use could hinder patient access to timely, high-quality cancer care. ASCO describes a range of PBM practices that, while they may be intended to help control costs in cancer care, might compromise physicians’ ability to provide the right treatment at the right time for people with cancer. 

Alexandria, Va. — CancerLinQ LLC, a wholly-owned nonprofit subsidiary of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), has brought on technology collaborators Concerto HealthAI and Tempus to accelerate its joint research effort with the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) aimed at understanding the real-world use, tolerability, and effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Concerto HealthAI and Tempus have begun to assist in the analysis of a de-identified data set that CancerLinQ has provided to the FDA, representing more than 10,000 patients who have been treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors for both approved and unapproved indications.

Alexandria, Va. – The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) warns that Medicaid work requirements may hinder patients’ access to essential cancer care and reduce the already limited time physicians are able to spend with their patients. In a new position statement released today, ASCO also recommends that federal and state policymakers take specific steps to ensure that new Medicaid requirements will not harm patients with cancer.  

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) have submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended language for five guidance documents on ways to broaden eligibility criteria for cancer clinical trials. The recommendations are part of an ASCO and Friends collaboration to broaden eligibility for participating in clinical trials by addressing five specific areas: minimum age requirements for trial enrollment, HIV/AIDS status, brain metastases, organ dysfunction, and prior and concurrent malignancies.

A new “frailty index” predicts overall survival for patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma, according to a study published today in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics (JCO CCI). This tool is important because frailty is a critical factor in treatment decision-making for many patients with multiple myeloma, as the cancer most commonly arises among older adults. According to the authors, this tool is the first of its kind to assess frailty based on the accumulation of aging-associated diseases and disabilities—or biological age—rather than chronological age alone to predict overall survival in multiple myeloma.