Radiation Therapy in the Last Month of Life: Association With Aggressive Care at the End of Life.

Context: Half of the patients with cancer who undergo radiation therapy do so with palliative intent.

Objectives: To determine the proportion of undergoing radiation in the last month of life, patient characteristics, cancer course, the type and duration of radiation, whether palliative care was involved, and the of radiation with aggressive cancer care metrics.

Methods: One thousand seven hundred twenty-seven patients who died of cancer between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2019, were included.

Tumor Treating Fields therapy with standard systemic therapy versus standard systemic therapy alone in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer following progression on or after platinum-based therapy (LUNAR): a randomised, open-label, pivotal phase 3 study.

Background: Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) are electric fields that disrupt processes critical for cancer cell survival, leading to immunogenic cell death and enhanced antitumour immune response. In preclinical models of non-small-cell lung cancer, TTFields amplified the effects of chemotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors. We report primary results from a pivotal study of TTFields therapy in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer.

Validation of the Surprise Question and the Development of a Multivariable Model.

Context: The Surprise Question (SQ) (would you be surprised if this patient died within a year?) is a prognostic variable explored in chronic illnesses. Validation is limited to sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values.

Objectives: Our objective is to validate the SQ in cancer patients and develop a predictive model with additional variables.

The Financial Impact of Palliative Care and Aggressive Cancer Care on End-of-Life Health Care Costs.

Background: Medicare cancer expenditures in the last month of life have increased. Aggressive cancer care at the end-of-life (ACEOL) is considered poor quality care. We used Geisinger Health Plan (GHP) last month's costs for cancer patients who died in 2018 and 2019 to determine the costs of and influence of Palliative Care (PC) on ACEOL.

When does early palliative care influence aggressive care at the end of life?

Background: Early palliative care improves patient quality of life and influences cancer care. The time frame of early has not been established. Eight quality measures reflect aggressive care at the end of life.

Organizational Characteristics and Smoking Cessation Support in Community-Based Lung Cancer Screening Programs.

An evidence-based approach to navigation, shared decision making, and tobacco cessation education, tailored to lung cancer screening, is needed nationwide at imaging centers to achieve maximal mortality reductions from lung cancer screening.

Patient-Centered Standards for Medically Integrated Dispensing: ASCO/NCODA Standards.

Purpose: To provide standards for medically integrated dispensing of oral anticancer drugs and supportive care medications.

Methods: An Expert Panel was formed, and a systematic review of the literature on patient-centered best practices for the delivery of oral anticancer and supportive care drugs was performed to April 2019 using PubMed and Google Scholar. Available patient-centered standards, including one previously developed by the National Community Oncology Dispensing Association (NCODA), were considered for endorsement.

Sarcopenia associated with chemotherapy and targeted agents for cancer therapy.

Clinicians often believe that cachexia is caused by cancer and anorexia as a toxicity of chemotherapy or targeted anti-cancer agents. It is now recognized that chemotherapy and certain targeted agents cause sarcopenia which reduce physical function and quality of life. Pre-treatment sarcopenia predicts chemotherapy toxicity, reduced response, increased disability, poor anti-tumor response and survival.

Checkpoint Inhibitors, Palliative Care, or Hospice.

Purpose: Checkpoint (CTLA-4, PD-1, and PD-L1) inhibitors have changed the face of oncology. A subset of patients enjoys long, gratifying treatment responses. Unfortunately, most patients do not respond even when expressing favorably markers such as PD-L1.

The emerging role of cetuximab in head and neck cancer: a 2007 perspective.

The integration of targeted therapies into clinical practice constitutes the paradigm of oncology treatment in the current era. Cetuximab, a recombinant human/mouse chimeric epidermal growth factor (EGFR) monoclonal antibody is a targeted agent that has seen expanding indication in recent years. Originally approved for colorectal cancer, its role in the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck has augmented treatment options for patients who are refractory to or cannot tolerate platinum.

Phase I/II randomized trial of intrahepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy with cisplatin and chemoembolization with cisplatin and polyvinyl sponge in patients with ocular melanoma metastatic to the liver.

Ocular melanoma has a unique metastatic predilection for the liver and is refractory to most forms of therapy. The dual blood supply of the liver with differential perfusion of metastatic lesions and normal hepatocytes by the hepatic artery and portal vein, respectively, has led to the evaluation of intrahepatic chemotherapy and chemoembolization in this disease. Despite suggestion of efficacy in phase II trials, this therapy has not been systematically evaluated.