Oncology Business Management | Specialty

The OncLive Oncology Business Management condition center page is a comprehensive resource for news and expert insights on business-focused updates and topics in oncology practices, including diversity efforts, telehealth, gaps in care, payment models, and more. This page features news articles, interviews in written and video format, and podcasts that focus on updates and best practices with oncology business management.

Back to the Future: Can Congress Resurrect an Independent Technology Assessment Entity?

May 25th 2010

A bill sponsored by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), is circulating through the legislature to fund a new center, the Health Care Comparative Effectiveness Research Institute. The Institute would perform largely the same function as the former Office of Technology Assessment.

Do Medicare Patients with a Cancer Diagnosis Disenroll From Managed Care Plans?

May 25th 2010

Managed care organizations tend to shy away from rigid management of patients with cancer, owing to the number of acceptable regimens for various tumors, the difficulty in controlling the use of oncologic (particularly biologic) agents, and the fact that prior authorization requests are rarely denied in these patients.

Clinical Abstracts From Overseas: May 25, 2010

May 25th 2010

Abstracts include: 1) Norway: Preoperative Chemoradiotherapy Improves Outcomes in Advanced Rectal Cancer, 2) Japan: Does CD55 Expression Have Prognostic Significance in Breast Cancer?, and more

Sorafenib (Nexavar) Is Effective and Well Tolerated in Asian Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma

May 25th 2010

In an oral presentation, Ann-Lii Cheng, MD, PhD, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, highlighted the results of a phase III study evaluating the efficacy and safety of sorafenib in patients from the Asia-Pacific region with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Treatment with Gemcitabine (Gemzar) for Six Months After Complete Resection of Pancreatic Carcinoma Significantly Increases Disease-free Survival and Overall Survival Compared with Observation Alone

May 25th 2010

Although gemcitabine-based chemotherapy is standard in advanced pancreatic cancer, the role of adjuvant chemotherapy is still incompletely defined.

Tremelimumab Is the Focus of Several Studies in Advanced and Metastatic Melanoma

May 25th 2010

Clinical investigations of tremelimumab in melanoma were the focus of several presentations at ASCO.

Lenalidomide (Revlimid) Plus Dexamethasone Compared with Dexamethasone Alone in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma

May 25th 2010

In an oral presentation, Jeffrey A. Zonder, MD, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Center, Wayne State University School of Medicine,Detroit, Michigan, reported updated results of SWOG 0232, a study of lenalidomide (Revlimid) plus dexamethasone compared with dexamethasone alone in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM).

Nutritional Supplements Can Help Increase Therapeutic Compliance

May 25th 2010

For patients undergoing chemotherapy, one of the greatest challenges they face is enduring what can be a grueling treatment regimen. Optimal nutrition can help patients better cope with the rigors of chemotherapy.

Colon Cancer Patients Not Getting Recommended Follow-Up Care

May 25th 2010

A new study shows that less than one half of older patients successfully treated for colorectal cancer receive the recommended screening schedule to detect any recurrence of cancer. The analysis indicates poor compliance with recommended monitoring of colorectal cancer survivors could affect survival.

Gastrointestinal Cancers: May 25, 2010

May 25th 2010

The 10th Annual Meeting of the World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer was held in Barcelona, Spain, in June. The Congress has grown into a key scientific program that covers malignancies affecting every component of the gastrointestinal tract and all facets of patient care, including screening, diagnosis, and management options for common and uncommon tumors.

Research from the 10th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer: Focus on KRAS

May 24th 2010

This month's issue features highlights from the 10th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer (WCGC), held this past June in Barcelona, Spain. The WCGC is an annual meeting that provides scientific sessions and posters on various malignancies of the gastrointestinal tract.

Colon Cancer Oncogene Identified

May 24th 2010

Scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, have linked the CDK8 gene to colon cancer, a previously unsuspected association.

Findings Implicate Virus as Skin Cancer Cause

May 24th 2010

University of Pittsburgh scientists ecently discovered a virus that they have determined is the cause of Merkel cell carcinoma.

Stanford Researchers Lock on to Novel Leukemia Treatment Target

May 24th 2010

Stanford University School of Medicine investigators may have discovered a new chemotherapy target for a deadly form of leukemia. A molecular signal, glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3), known to regulate cell growth appears to play a %u201Cdouble agent%u201D role.

Nanotech-based Methylation Testing May Profoundly Impact Cancer Diagnosis, Treatment Assessment

May 24th 2010

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, have developed an innovative test to screen for chemical modifications to DNA, which are known as methylation. The test could potentially be used to diagnose cancer early on and to assess patients%u2019 response to cancer therapies.

Synthetic Protein Discovery May Yield Major Breakthroughs in Oncology Treatment

May 24th 2010

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee have announced a pending patent on a new synthetic version of a protein involved in some cancers and immune system diseases.

Study Links Hepatitis B Exposure to Increased Pancreatic Cancer Risk

May 24th 2010

In what researchers are touting as a first-of-its-kind finding, Houston-based University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center investigators have discovered a potential connection between exposure to the hepatitis B virus and an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

Home Sales: It%u2019s A Buyer%u2019s Market

May 24th 2010

This year, most Americans have seen the value of their home drop faster than a lead weight. If you purchased your home in the last 10 years, during the housing boom, you will likely find that it is worth less today than what you paid for it%u2014and in some cases less than what you still owe.

How Have Pharmaceutical Giants Fared as the Stock Market Roils?

May 24th 2010

Bristol-Myers Squibb wrote down $300 million on auction-related securities. Wyeth lost $70 million on the collapses of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual. Genentech took a $67 million hit on its investments in financial institution preferred securities, and more updates.

Gardasil Indications Expanded to Include Vaginal and Vulvar Cancers

May 24th 2010

Merck has won FDA approval to market Gardasil,which immunizes patients against cancer-causing strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), as a preventive vaccine for vaginal and vulvar cancers, as well.