Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and John A. Gentile, Jr, Chairman, Harborside Press, LLC, discuss the early days of NCCN, controversies that surrounded the first meeting, oncologists’ embrace of the guidelines, and how the organization has evolved over the past 20 years.
Although guidelines worldwide mandate fertility preservation for newly diagnosed patients within their reproductive window, most patients are still not referred or offered this option. Rebecca H. Johnson, MD, of Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, explains the steps that need to be taken when counseling patients.
Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and Lee N. Newcomer, MD, MHA, of UnitedHealthCare, discuss the value of NCCN Guidelines in determining coverage decisions, the future of affordable care, bundled payments, and the clear value approach.
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.
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.
John A. Thompson, MD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses the latest immunotherapeutics for advanced melanoma, including pembrolizumab, trametinib, nivolumab, and dabrafenib.
