Chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia (FN): healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and costs in commercially insured patients in the US.

Purpose: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a known side effect of chemotherapy, often requiring hospitalization. Economic burden increases with an FN episode and estimates of cost per episode should be updated from real-world data.

Methods: A retrospective claims analysis of FN episodes in patients with non-myeloid malignancies from 2014 to 2021 was performed in IQVIA PharMetrics® Plus database.

Spending on Antineoplastic Agents in the United States, 2011 to 2016.

Purpose:: Recent cancer drug approvals are lauded as being more effective with relatively fewer adverse effects, but these treatments come with a great cost to the US health care system. There is little information on recent trends in actual antineoplastic expenditures representative of the whole US health care system or by sector. Therefore, the objective of this study was to describe antineoplastic expenditures in the United States by year and sector.

National trends in prescription drug expenditures and projections for 2018.

Purpose: Historical trends and factors likely to influence future pharmaceutical expenditures are discussed, and projections are made for drug spending in 2018 in nonfederal hospitals, clinics, and overall (all sectors).

Methods: Drug expenditure data through calendar year 2017 were obtained from the IQVIA (formerly QuintilesIMS) National Sales Perspectives database and analyzed. New drug approvals, patent expirations, and other factors that may influence drug spending in hospitals and clinics in 2018 were also reviewed.

National trends in prescription drug expenditures and projections for 2017.

Purpose: Historical trends and factors likely to influence future pharmaceutical expenditures are discussed, and projections are made for drug spending in 2017 in nonfederal hospitals, clinics, and overall (all sectors).

Methods: Drug expenditure data through calendar year 2016 were obtained from the QuintilesIMS National Sales Perspectives database and analyzed. Other factors that may influence drug spending in hospitals and clinics in 2017, including new drug approvals and patent expirations, were also reviewed.

National trends in prescription drug expenditures and projections for 2016.

Purpose: Historical trends and factors likely to influence future pharmaceutical expenditures are discussed, and projections are made for drug spending in 2016 in nonfederal hospitals, clinics, and overall (all sectors).

Methods: Drug expenditure data through calendar year 2015 were obtained from the IMS Health National Sales Perspectives database and analyzed. Other factors that may influence drug spending in hospitals and clinics in 2016, including new drug approvals and patent expirations, were also reviewed.

Accuracy of annual prescription drug expenditure forecasts in AJHP.

Purpose: The accuracy of the forecasts of drug expenditures in nonfederal hospitals and clinics published annually in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy (AJHP) relative to the accuracy of forecasts produced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) was evaluated.

Methods: AJHP-published forecasts of drug expenditure growth for nonfederal hospitals (for the years 2003 through 2013) and clinics (for the years 2004 through 2013) were compared with data on actual growth. Data on actual and projected growth published by CMS were analyzed for the years 2003 through 2012.

National trends in prescription drug expenditures and projections for 2015.

Purpose: An analysis of trends in U.S. pharmaceutical spending is presented, including projections for drug expenditures in nonfederal hospital and clinic settings in 2015.

Considerations in the early development of biosimilar products.

The widespread use and patent expiration of many biologics have led to global interest in development of biosimilar products. Because the manufacture of biologics, including biosimilars, is a complex process involving living systems, the development of a biosimilar is more rigorous than the development of a generic small molecule drug. Several regulatory agencies have established or are proposing guidelines that recommend a stepwise process to ensure the efficacy and safety of a biosimilar are highly similar to the reference product.

National trends in prescription drug expenditures and projections for 2014.

Purpose: An analysis of trends in U.S. pharmaceutical spending is presented, including projections for drug expenditures in nonfederal hospital and clinic settings in 2014.

NCCN Biosimilars White Paper: regulatory, scientific, and patient safety perspectives.

Biologics are essential to oncology care. As patents for older biologics begin to expire, the United States is developing an abbreviated regulatory process for the approval of similar biologics (biosimilars), which raises important considerations for the safe and appropriate incorporation of biosimilars into clinical practice for patients with cancer. The potential for biosimilars to reduce the cost of biologics, which are often high-cost components of oncology care, was the impetus behind the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009, a part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

NCCN Oncology Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies White Paper: Recommendations for Stakeholders.

REMS are a particularly important issue for oncology and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). A disproportionate number of drugs with complex REMS are used in patients with cancer or hematologic disorders. REMS policies and processes within oncology may act as a model for other clinical areas.

Insights and perspectives in the clinical and operational management of cancer-related anemia.

Management of anemia in patients with cancer presents challenges from clinical, operational, and economic perspectives. Clinically, anemia in these patients may result from treatment (chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or surgical interventions) or from the malignancy itself. Anemia not only contributes to cancer-related fatigue and other quality of life issues, but also affects prognosis.

NCCN Task Force Report: Specialty Pharmacy.

The use of specialty pharmacies is expanding in oncology pharmacy practice. Specialty pharmacies provide a channel for distributing drugs that, from the payor perspective, creates economies of scale and streamlines the delivery of expensive drugs. Proposed goals of specialty pharmacy include optimization of pharmaceutical care outcomes through ensuring appropriate medication use and maximizing adherence, and optimization of economic outcomes through avoiding unwarranted drug expenditure.

Preliminary report: the development of the NCCN Comparative Therapeutic Index™ as a clinical evaluative process for existing data in oncology.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) develops and communicates the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) to oncologists and other clinicians. The NCCN Guidelines are widely recognized and applied as the standard for clinical policy in the United States. These guidelines and related documents, such as the NCCN Drugs & Biologics Compendium (NCCN Compendium), are used extensively by public and private payors as the basis for the setting of coverage policies.

Drug-induced QT-interval prolongation: considerations for clinicians.

Drug-induced proarrhythmia is a frequently encountered clinical problem and a leading cause for withdrawal or relabeling of prescription drugs. Suppression of the rapid component of the delayed rectifier potassium current, I(Kr), represents the principal pharmacodynamic mechanism leading to heterogeneous prolongation of the ventricular action potential and prolongation of the QT interval clinically. However, the risk of proarrhythmia by QT-interval-prolonging drugs is variable and critically dependent on several factors leading to multiple reductions in the cardiac repolarization reserve.

Zoledronic acid: a new parenteral bisphosphonate.

Background: Inhibition of bone resorption using bisphosphonates is an important step in palliation of complications of advanced cancer, such as hypercalcemia and metastatic bone disease.

Objective: The goal of this article was to describe the pharmacologic properties of zoledronic acid (zoledronate) and discuss findings from preclinical and clinical studies of its use in skeletal disorders.

Methods: Relevant English-language literature was identified using the terms zoledronic acid, zoledronate, Zometa, and 118072-93-8 through searches of MEDLINE (1966-June 2003) and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970-June 2003), and abstract proceedings from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (1997-2002).