Issue 24 – The Cancer Letter Publications

Guest Editorial
The Trump administration “American Patients First” plan to reduce drug prices—Are American cancer patients first?
In May 2018, President Trump announced his plan to lower drug prices. “We will have tougher negotiation, more competition, and much lower prices at the pharmacy counter. And it will start to take effect very soon,” he promised. The plan is outlined in a 40-page document by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services titled “American Patients First—The Trump Administration Blueprint to Lower Drug Prices and Reduce Out-of-Pocket Cost.”
Change in culture needed to prevent sexual harassment at academic institutions, NASEM says
To prevent and effectively respond to sexual harassment of women, institutions of higher education need to promote a system-wide change to the culture and climate on campus, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
In Brief
- NCI’s Rosenberg receives Jacobson Innovation Award of the American College of Surgeons
- Penn State Health and Highmark Health to create health care network
- NCI renews City of Hope’s support grant with outstanding rating
- AAP recognizes COH’s Forman for physician-led science and scientific leadership
- COH’s Rosen inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
- Prostate cancer expert Dorff joins COH
- COH’s Djulbegovic directs Medicine and Comparative Effectiveness Research Program
Funding Opportunities
NCI Community Oncology Research Program issues three RFAs: Community Sites, Minority/Underserved Community Sites, and Research Bases
This Funding Opportunity Announcement solicits applications from institutions/organizations to participate in the National Cancer Institute’s NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP).
Letter to the Editor
MammaPrint has remained consistent and credible since introduction more than a decade ago
To the Editor:
One of the biggest questions that early-stage breast cancer patients face is whether they will benefit from chemotherapy treatment. Two large scale randomized clinical trials that implement genomic testing have positively addressed this question.
Clinical Roundup
- Study shows low-fat diet significantly reduced risk of death after breast cancer
- Some African-American men with advanced prostate cancer do better than whites
- African-American men show stronger response to hormone therapy for prostate cancer
- Loxo announces positive interim data from dose escalation trial in RET-altered cancers
- Tecentriq, Avastin plus chemo improved OS in non-squamous NSCLC
- Alecensa reduced risk of disease progression or death in Alk-positive metastatic NSCLC
- Checkpoint inhibitor shrinks advanced squamous cell skin cancer
- Kisqali combination therapy improves PFS in HR+/HER2- breast cancer
- PARP inhibitor improves overall response rates in small cell lung cancer patients
- Study links blood vitamin D levels to colorectal cancer risk
Drugs and Targets
- FDA approves Avastin in combination with chemotherapy for ovarian cancer
- FDA approves Keytruda for relapsed or refractory PMBCL
- FDA approves Keytruda for previously treated patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer whose tumors express PD-L1
- TESARO, Genentech to study Zejula with anti-PD-L1 agent, MEK inhibitor in ovarian cancer
- FDA approves Venclexta with rituximab as a fixed duration treatment for CLL or SLL after one prior therapy
- FDA approves first Neulasta biosimilar
- FDA, EMA accept application for talazoparib in metastatic breast cancer with inherited BRCA mutation
The Cancer Letter wins investigative, design awards
The Cancer Letter won four 2018 Dateline Awards from the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.