Peer-to-Peer Phone Calls and Letters Appealing Insurance Denials of Service: Practical Tips and Resources.

The approval of radiation oncology care by insurance companies is burdensome for providers. In this topic discussion, we attempt to provide practical recommendations for how to deal with peer-to-peer phone calls as well as how to improve the timeliness and quality of subsequent letters of appeal.

Breast-conserving therapy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy: long-term results.

The purpose of this study was to determine patterns of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) and local-regional recurrence (LRR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and breast-conserving therapy (BCT). A total of 153 breast cancer patients were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by conservative surgery and radiation therapy between 1980 and 2002. The clinical stage (American Joint Committee on Cancer [AJCC] 1997) at diagnosis was IIA in 22%, IIB in 28%, IIIA in 39%, and IIIB in 11%.

Tumor lysis syndrome in extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer.

Tumor lysis syndrome is a constellation of metabolic complications that occurs in the setting of treatment of hematologic malignancies. On occasion, it has been reported to occur after therapy for solid tumors associated with large tumor burdens and aggressive therapy. We herein report the rare occurrence of acute tumor lysis syndrome in a woman with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer after cytotoxic therapy.