Stanton R. Mehr

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.

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.

Many managed care and payer organizations use pay-for-performance programs as incentive to improve healthcare quality. While several studies have examined the effect of these programs on primary care, few studies have evaluated their impact on cancer care.

Based on data from the National Health Interview Surveys of 2000-2005, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted a promising trend: nearly half of elderly individuals were up to date on the recommended number of screenings of colorectal cancer.

Using a database of managed care claims, outcomes researchers at Huffman-La Roche Inc in Nutley, New Jersey, examined the total cost of care for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (N = 1459) who received 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based regimens or capecitabine-based chemotherapy regimens from 2004-2006.

According to the National Cancer Institute, more than half of patients undergoing radiation therapy to manage malignant tumors report experiencing significant pain. Despite this, relatively few use pain relief medication.

Although imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) is the standard of care for patients with metastatic or unresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), few studies have examined its cost-effectiveness in treating this disorder.

In addition to providing healthcare coverage for elderly individuals, CMS offers coverage for younger patients with chronic disabilities. Like all Medicare enrollees, these patients have the option to subscribe to a Medicare Advantage plan.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute noted that the number of elderly patients with a new cancer diagnosis enrolled in oncology clinical trials has declined, and they think Medicare Advantage may be to blame.

Researchers from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston have found that oral fluoropyrimidines can facilitate longer exposure to 5-fluorouracil and reduce inconvenience in treating metastatic colorectal cancer.

Clinicians from various centers across the nation collaborated in conducting a multicenter phase II trial that assessed the feasibility, toxicity,and possible efficacy of a short-term treatment regimen prior to surgery for squamous-cell head and neck carcinoma (SCHNC).

Researchers from the University of Texas, Houston,recently evaluated the use of everolimus (RAD001) combined with octreotide long-acting repeatable (LAR) to treat patients who have advanced low- to intermediate-grade neuroendocrine tumors.

At the 33rd Congress of ESMO in Stockholm, Sweden, findings were presented from a recent study that found administration of intravenous (IV) iron intensified and accelerated cancer patients' response to darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp.

German researchers sought to confirm the results of a previous Japanese trial that found patients with extensive-disease small–cell lung cancer (ED SCLC) treated with irinotecan plus cisplatin lived longer than subjects given therapy with etoposide plus cisplatin.

Women with ovarian cancer have few nonplatinum-based chemotherapy options. At the 33rd ESMO Congress in September 2008, researchers reported findings from OVA-301, a phase III trial that compared efficacy and safety of trabectedin (Yondelis) in combination with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) versus PLD monotherapy in women with relapsed ovarian cancer.

Previous studies have demonstrated that patients who have recurrent or metastatic squamous-cell head and neck cancer (SCHNC) that is resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy can be treated effectively with cetuximab. Belgian researchers hoped to discover whether cetuximab plus platinum-based chemotherapy would be an effective first-line treatment in patients with SCHNC.