How Much Evidence Do We Really Need to Change Treatment Recommendations? – October 10
By Dr. H. Jack West One ongoing controversy in the world of managing cancer, especially one in which cures are elusive, is how high the bar should be to guide treatment recommendations. The “gold standard” to change treatment is a significant improvement in the primary endpoint, ideally overall survival, in a prospective, randomized phase III trial with several hundred or even several thousand people. In some settings, treatment recommendations may not even change until a few randomized phase III trials show the same significant improvement with a new treatment approach. But the reality is that sometimes we want… Read More
Costs of Cancer Drugs Chat – August 22
By Dr. H. Jack West For our upcoming lung cancer tweetchat (hashtag #lcsm) on Thursday, August 22nd at 8 PM Eastern, 5 PM Pacific, we’re going to be covering the important topic of costs of cancer drugs and procedures, how that’s affecting patient care, whether pricing is fair, and whether there is a sense of value in the drugs and treatments being offered. The first question we’ll cover is whether the rising costs of cancer drugs and procedures is affecting patients, and if so, how? I have my own perspective, but are… Read More