Top Articles From Evidence-Based Oncology™ in 2022

The latest updates in cancer treatments, the promises and challenges of technology, and a look at the shifting landscape of care delivery were among the most-read articles published in (EBO) in 2022 Healthcare, which provides real-world data abstraction, curation, and analytics capabilities in oncology to health care provider organizations and life sciences companies.

In this Q&A, Sasu discusses her new role, the changing field of real-world data and real-world evidence, how the FDA can facilitate greater use of real-world data, and more.

4. The Promise of Telehealth—a Cautionary Tale

This article was the second in a series of 2 from Neil Minkoff, MD, founder of FountainHead HealthCare and chief medical officer of COEUS Consulting Group. Minkoff, a longtime friend of and frequent collaborator with The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®), died suddenly on May 4, 2022. His colleagues worked to finalize this 2-part series on the future of telehealth. The first part in September, and this second part ran in the October issue of EBO.

NCCN updated its guidelines to place the second-generation Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor (BTK) ahead of ibrutinib. The decision was partly centered on ibrutinib’s toxicity profile and the fact that the first-generation BTK inhibitor has known “off-target” cardiac effects

2. Inovio's DNA Vaccine Combo Plus Cemiplimab Shows Promise in Glioblastoma

Study results presented at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting showed that a pair of DNA medicines combined with cemiplimab (Libtayo), a checkpoint inhibitor, produced promising overall survival results in glioblastoma. Other cancers have seen progress with checkpoint inhibitors, but glioblastoma has been one area where immunotherapies have not worked as well.

The study showed the regimen was well tolerated and adverse events were consistent with those seen in other studies of checkpoint inhibitors. However, there need to be additional studies to confirm the findings.

. Shifting Landscape of Care Delivery Is Impacting Value-Based Cancer Care

At the June meeting of AJMC®’s Institute for Value-Based Medicine®, held with Texas Oncology in Austin, Texas, speakers discussed how value-based cancer care needs to protect community oncology, which has allowed patients to receive care close to where they live and minimize travel to large medical centers.

Other shifts in the landscape impacting value that were discussed at the event were the vertical integration of payers, pharmacy benefit managers, and specialty pharmacies, and the increasing use of oral therapies.

5. Short-Course Antibiotic Therapy for Community-Acquired Pneumonia as Effective as Long-Course Therapy

A study published in the journal Clinical Microbiology and Infection found that short-course antibiotic therapy was just as effective as long-course therapy when comparing results in hospitalized patients with mild or moderate community-acquired pneumonia. Minimizing antibiotic use with short-course therapy addresses concerns regarding antimicrobial resistance to antibiotics. The real-world findings added to previous research, which mainly came from randomized controlled trials.

. Nutrition, Pneumonia Severity May Predict Life Expectancy From Aspiration Pneumonia

Poor nutritional status and worse severity of pneumonia were associated with higher mortality rates in aspiration pneumonia, according to a study published in The Clinical Respiratory Journal. Additionally, men were found to have lower survival rates compared with women. When evaluating these risk factors for 90-day survival, the researchers found the non-survival group had higher disease severity, as measured by increased inflammation levels of C-reactive protein, white blood cell count, and dehydration and significantly higher nutritional disorders.