Meaningful endpoints for therapies approved for hematologic malignancies.

Background: Overall survival (OS) is considered the gold standard for determining treatment efficacy in oncology trials, but the relation between treatment and OS can be challenging to assess because of long study durations and the impact of subsequent therapies on outcome. Using OS can be particularly difficult for new therapies in hematologic malignancies (HMs).

Methods: This retrospective analysis was conducted to characterize the primary endpoints used to support US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals for new drug or novel HM indications between January 2002 and July 2015.

Transparency of Industry-Sponsored Oncology Patient Financial Assistance Programs Using a Patient-Centered Approach.

Objective: Pharmaceutical manufacturers sponsor drug-specific patient assistance programs that provide eligible patients with financial assistance, either in the form of providing the drug free of charge or copayment assistance. Describing these programs and determining who receives assistance is an important first step in understanding the impact and role of financial assistance in cancer care. Our objective was to describe eligibility criteria and benefits for cancer-specific, manufacturer-sponsored patient assistance programs.

New Frameworks to Assess Value of Cancer Care: Strengths and Limitations.

Confronted with the different clinical impacts of different treatments, the rising cost of cancer care, and the financial burden of high drug prices, several influential professional organizations have developed models with which to assess the clinical benefit and value of cancer treatment regimens. The goal is a system of valuing patient therapies that is aligned with the beneficial impact to the patient and society and that moves away from a fixed cost regardless of clinical circumstances.

Experiences of People with Diabetes by Payer Type: An Analysis of the Roper Diabetes Data Set.

Introduction: The study details the experiences of Medicare, Medicaid and privately insured patients with diabetes in the United States by focusing on how these distinct populations perceive their disease and manage their treatment.

Methods: A national survey was fielded among a representative sample of 2,307 US adult diagnosed diabetes patients to investigate demographic, lifestyle, treatment, access to information, and socioeconomic status. This was achieved using a combination of telephone-based interviews and internet-based questionnaires administered via KnowledgePanel®, the only large-scale online panel based on a representative random sample of the US population.