Pricing of CAR T Therapies Currently Aligns With Benefit, but Future Changes May Be Needed
March 27th 2018Despite price tags well over $350,000 for treatment, tisagenlecleucel, approved for children with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and axicabtagene ciloleucel, approved for adults with certain B-cell subtypes of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, are considered cost effective, according to a report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review.
BRAF V600E Testing Necessary in NSCLC, but Experts Unsure of Optimal Setting With BRAF/MEK Combo
March 12th 2018Upfront testing for BRAF V600E mutations is necessary for patients with non–small cell lung cancer, but if results are positive, physicians are unsure when to administer BRAF/MEK combination therapy—and they must be prepared to manage the associated adverse events.
Studies Highlight Rationale for Immunotherapy in Early-Stage and Locally Advanced NSCLC
March 11th 2018With durvalumab (Imfinzi) being hailed as a potentially practice changing therapy in locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer, ongoing studies are seeking to determine the efficacy of immunotherapy in earlier stages of disease.
Positive Topline Results Released from Study of Gene Therapy in OTC Deficiency
March 7th 2018Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, Inc. released positive long-term safety and efficacy data from the first dose cohort of the Phase 1/2 study of DTX301. The investigational AAV gene therapy, is intended for the treatment of OTC deficiency.
CSPG4 Could Make CAR T-Cell Therapy a Reality in Treating Glioblastoma
March 4th 2018Researchers have identified a molecular target that could allow chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy to be used in treating patients with glioblastoma. Although the heterogeneous expression of tumor-associated antigens limits the efficacy for CAR-redirected T cells for the treatment of glioblastoma, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 (CSPG4), a cell surface type 1 transmembrane protein, is highly expressed in a majority of glioblastoma specimens with limited heterogeneity.
How Durable Are CAR T-Cell Therapies?
March 1st 2018The use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for the treatment of hematologic malignancies is still in its early stages, but when the FDA approved tisagenlecleucel and axicabtagene ciloleucel in 2017, this gave hope to oncologists and patients with some types of leukemia and lymphoma who have exhausted all other options.
European Panel Recommends Against Adjuvant Sunitinib for High-Risk RCC
February 27th 2018The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended against approving sunitinib for use as an adjuvant therapy in patients with renal cell carcinoma who have received nephrectomy and are high risk for recurrence.
With Approval of CAR T-Cell Therapy Comes the Next Challenge: Payer Coverage
February 22nd 2018CAR T- cell therapies are among the most expensive ever invented. For now, there’s a lot of uncertainty, as both government and commercial insurers, and a handful of the nation’s leading cancer centers, navigate a reimbursement structure that truly has no precedent.