Clifford Goodman, PhD, of the The Lewin Group, and Peter B. Bach, MD, MAPP, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discuss the affordability of cancer care, the “financial toxicities” of high drug prices, and what could and should be done about it.
Wui-Jin Koh, MD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses the program to adapt NCCN guidelines to regions of the world with different resource availability. The first guideline to be adapted in this way is for cervical cancer, which is prevalent in the developing world.
Mario E. Lacouture, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the effect on patients of dermatologic toxicities associated with targeted therapies: their psychosocial impact, financial burden, physiological pain, and potential to alter therapy. But the side effects of targeted treatments can and should be addressed.
Jerald P. Radich, MD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance discusses the evolution in treating and monitoring CML and whether monitoring at 3 and 6 months will ultimately prove useful.
Peter G. Shields, MD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, discusses the new NCCN Guidelines for helping patients with cancer to stop smoking. Counseling is a critical part of these new recommendations.
Samuel M. Silver, MD, PhD, of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Al B. Benson III, MD, FACP, FASCO, of Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, discuss the evolution of NCCN Guidelines, which are available free online, and the components that make them effective: a multidisciplinary approach, the participation of patient advocates, consistency, and affordability of the evidence.
