Amy J. Davidoff, PhD, on Racial Disparities in Time to Cancer Treatment: The Effect of Medicaid Expansion
2019 ASCO Annual Meeting
Amy J. Davidoff, PhD, of Yale University School of Public Health, discusses study findings on how expanding access to Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) reduced racial disparities among patients with advanced cancer. Before the ACA was implemented in 2014, black patients with cancer were less likely than white patients to receive timely treatment, but in states that did not adopt Medicaid expansion, racial disparities persist (Abstract LBA1).
Gilberto Lopes, MD, MBA, of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami, offers commentary on phase III findings from the RELAY study, which showed that erlotinib plus ramucirumab led to superior progression-free survival in previously untreated patients with EGFR mutant–positive NSCLC (Abstract 9000).
Sagar Lonial, MD, of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, discusses the potentially practice-changing phase III findings showing that lenalidomide substantially delayed progression of smoldering multiple myeloma to aggressive disease when compared with observation alone (Abstract 8001).
Miriam Knoll, MD, of Hackensack University Medical Center, and Richard J. White, DO, of Allegheny Health Network, discuss improved overall survival among younger female patients with non–small cell lung cancer who have a lower comorbidity score, lower grade, private insurance, and treatment with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (Abstract 9024).
Josep Tabernero, MD, PhD, of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology, discusses phase III findings of the KEYNOTE-062 study showing that, for some patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer, pembrolizumab may improve survival and may be an effective alternative to chemotherapy, with fewer side effects (Abstract LBA4007).
François-Xavier Mahon, MD, PhD, of the Université Bordeaux and Institut Bergonie, discusses results of the ENESTop study, which demonstrated the long-term durability and safety of treatment-free remission in chronic-phase CML after second-line nilotinib (Abstract 7005).
