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).
Don S. Dizon, MD, of the Lifespan Cancer Institute, and Richard T. Penson, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, discuss phase III study findings on the PARP inhibitor olaparib, which showed a significantly higher objective response rate vs nonplatinum chemotherapy for patients with ovarian cancer who relapsed, are platinum-sensitive, and have BRCA-mutant disease (Abstract 5506).
Matteo Lambertini, MD, PhD, of the University of Genova and Policlinico San Martino Hospital, discusses data from an international cohort study on counseling women with breast cancer who have a BRCA mutation about the safety of becoming pregnant once they complete treatment (Abstract 11506).
Kerry A. Rogers, MD, of The Ohio State University, discusses a 3-year follow-up of phase Ib safety and efficacy findings with the selective BTK inhibitor acalabrutinib and the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody obinutuzumab in patients with CLL (Abstract 7500).
Jason Westin, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses findings of the Smart Start study on the chemotherapy-free combination of rituximab, lenalidomide, and ibrutinib in newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (Abstract 7508).
Kim N. Chi, MD, of BC Cancer, discusses the first phase III findings from the TITAN study of apalutamide vs placebo in patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer receiving androgen-deprivation therapy (Abstract 5006).