Bernardo H. L. Goulart, MD, of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses his findings that high out-of-pocket costs for oral tyrosine kinase inhibitors may lower survival rates, shorten the duration of therapy, and reduce the number of prescriptions for patients with metastatic EGFR- or ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract 3).
Matthew B. Schabath, PhD, of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, discusses the disparities in cancer care among members of the LGBTQ community and the need to collect more data in order to close that gap.
Manali I. Patel, MD, of Stanford Cancer Center, discusses enhancing value for patients with cancer treated by community practitioners at the end of life by also utilizing trained lay health workers in a novel intervention that reduced the use of acute care and emergency department visits while improving quality of life.
Nadine Housri, MD, of the Yale School of Medicine, talks about a new paradigm in sharing knowledge from tumor board discussions at NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers, with community oncologists on themednet.org. Currently, thoracic, breast, and GI cancers are included, with plans to expand the scope (Abstract 272).
Cristina Merkhofer, MD, MHS, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses study results showing that for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer at her institution, enrolling in a therapeutic drug clinical trial was associated with a 47% lower risk of death, compared with not taking part in a trial (Abstract 137).
Linda D. Bosserman, MD, of City of Hope, discusses guidelines vs pathways, how to personalize pathways, integrated diagnostics, supportive care regimens, and financial guidance for patients with cancer.
