Alexandria, Va. – The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) joined 370 health care groups in urging members of the U.S. House of Representatives to support the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act (H.R. 3107). The bipartisan bill would help protect patients from unnecessary care delays by streamlining and standardizing prior authorization under Medicare Advantage (MA) and providing program oversight and transparency for MA beneficiaries.
September 10, 2019
September 3, 2019
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Two studies examine different issues related to patient participation in clinical trials. One study investigates the relationship between participation in a clinical trial and overall survival in patients with advanced lung cancer. The second study discovers and explores a discrepancy between providers’ and patients’ perceived barriers to clinical trial participation. Authors will present their findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) upcoming Quality Care Symposium, taking place September 6–7, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego.
September 3, 2019
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Drug costs and requirements for prior authorization of treatment plans pose barriers to cancer treatment and can potentially affect outcomes for many patients, according to two studies that will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) upcoming Quality Care Symposium, taking place September 6-7, 2019, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego.
August 15, 2019
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) announced today the three recipients of its CancerLinQ Discovery® Research Support Grant. The awardees will undertake research projects using data from CancerLinQ Discovery®, an offering of ASCO’s CancerLinQ® initiative that provides de-identified data from cancer patients to academic researchers, government agencies, and others in the oncology community to generate practical knowledge that will improve cancer care.
August 8, 2019
ASCO President Howard A. “Skip” Burris III, MD, FACP, FASCO, made a statement applauding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for releasing a national coverage determination (NCD) on CAR T-cell therapy that provides consistent and predictable access to an innovative cancer treatment to Medicare beneficiaries nationwide.
July 16, 2019
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Twenty practices in three countries elevated their standard of care and achieved Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Certification in the second quarter of this year. The American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) commends these practices that have demonstrated their commitment to providing the highest-quality oncology care to their patients, communities, and contemporaries.
July 10, 2019
Today, organizations representing patients, providers, medical researchers, survivors, and their families joined together to call on Congress to improve access to clinical trials for patients with life-threatening diseases. The coalition, which is made up of 86 supporting organizations, is urging Congress to pass the bipartisan CLINICAL TREATMENT Act (H.R. 913), which would guarantee coverage of the routine care costs of clinical trial participation for Medicaid enrollees with a life-threatening condition.
June 28, 2019
“We applaud the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for its recommendations on cancer control in the United States. The report examines the oncology community’s efforts over the past 10 years and lays out a comprehensive path for addressing the complex issues facing the entire cancer care continuum, from government agencies to the individual physician.
June 3, 2019
CHICAGO – The randomized OSLO-COMET trial found that laparoscopic surgery did not change chances of survival, when compared to open surgery, to remove metastases that had spread to the liver in patients with colorectal cancer. Overall, patients lived more than 6.5 years after surgery, regardless of whether it was laparoscopic or open.
The study will be featured in a press briefing today and presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
June 3, 2019
CHICAGO – A study looking at 10,500 health records of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC) patients from ASCO’s CancerLinQ database found that the use of expanded clinical trial inclusion criteria, as proposed by ASCO and Friends of Cancer Research in 2017, would nearly double the percentage of patients eligible to enroll in clinical trials – from 52.3% to 98.5%. The expanded clinical trial eligibility criteria would allow aNSCLC patients with brain metastases, previous or concurrent cancers, and limited kidney function to enroll in clinical trials.
The study will be featured in a press briefing today and presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
June 3, 2019
CHICAGO – A single arm, phase II clinical trial of 125 patients showed treatment with enfortumab vedotin (EV) – a new agent targeting Nectin-4, a protein found in 97% of urothelial cancers – produced responses in 44% of patients with locally advanced or metastatic forms of urothelial cancer. Patients had previously been treated with platinum chemotherapy and a PD-1 or PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, but the cancer had progressed despite these treatments.
The study will be featured in a press briefing today and presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
June 3, 2019
CHICAGO – A recent survey of U.S.-based physician members of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology found that 64% of respondents experienced sexual harassment in training or practice; among women, the rate was 71% and among men it was 51%. Only 10% reported the incident(s) to officials. In addition, women were more likely than men to respond that gender affected career advancement (34% vs. 10%) and played a role in setting their salary (42% vs. 6%).
The study will be featured in a press briefing today and presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
June 2, 2019
CHICAGO – An analysis of data from the National Cancer Database found that after implementation of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA), ovarian cancer was diagnosed and treated at an earlier stage among women under age 65. More women also received treatment within 30 days of diagnosis, thereby increasing chances of survival.
The study will be featured in a press briefing today and presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
June 2, 2019
CHICAGO – An interim analysis of the international randomized, phase III ENZAMET trial found that 80% of men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) who received the non-steroidal anti-androgen (NSAA) medicine enzalutamide (Xtandi) along with the standard of care treatment were alive after 3 years compared with 72% of men who received other NSAAs along with standard treatment. The study was led by the Australian and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate (ANZUP) Cancer Trials Group.
These findings will be presented in ASCO’s Plenary Session, which features four studies of great importance to patient care, out of the 5,600 abstracts accepted to the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
June 2, 2019
CHICAGO – The randomized, phase III POLO trial found that maintenance therapy with the PARP inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) significantly delayed the progression of metastatic pancreatic cancer in patients with BRCA gene mutations compared with placebo (median progression-free survival: 7.4 months vs. 3.8 months, respectively). In the trial, olaparib was administered to patients with cancer that had not progressed after completion of initial platinum-based chemotherapy, and after two years, 22.1% of people receiving olaparib had no disease progression vs. 9.6% for those treated with placebo. While overall survival data are not yet mature, this is a significant advance given that the median survival of metastatic pancreatic cancer is currently less than one year.
These findings will be presented in ASCO’s Plenary Session, which features four studies of great importance to patient care, out of the 5,600 abstracts accepted to the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
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