ED Visits Often Precede Cancer; Shrinking Radiation Access; Beware ‘Free’ Drug Plans

A study of national insurance claims data showed that a fourth of patients with newly diagnosed cancers had a recent emergency department (ED) visit that resulted in nonspecific findings. (Trilliant Health)

Accord BioPharma announced FDA approval of pegfilgrastim-pccg (Ennumo) for prevention of neutropenia caused by cancer treatment, the eighth biosimilar to reference pegfilgrastim (Neulasta).

Sanofi announced FDA approval of subcutaneous isatuximab (Sarclisa Escena) for use in combination with standard therapy for multiple myeloma, the first anticancer treatment administered via an on-body injector.

For the third time, the FDA refused to approve the anti-PD-1/VEGFR combination of camrelizumab and rivoceranib for unresectable liver cancer, this time for deficiencies in the facility that produces rivoceranib, according to a complete response letter sent to Hengrui Pharma and Elevar Therapeutics. (Fierce Pharma)

Britain’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recommended that the National Health Service no longer cover the KRAS inhibitor sotorasib (Lumakras) for KRAS G12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer, citing “limitations in the clinical evidence [and] uncertainty in the economic model, including how to model the long-term benefits of sotorasib.” (pharmaphorum)

More than 50 million Americans, and almost 70% of all U.S. counties, have no radiation oncology providers and millions more are at risk, according to a nationwide study. (American Society for Radiation Oncology)

Meanwhile, eight community-based radiation oncology services across five states have formed the Anoma Cancer Collective, a network of nonprofit clinics to “preserve their independence” in an “evolving healthcare landscape.” (Radiology Business)

Veterans treated for lung cancer in the VA health system had better survival than those treated outside the system. (U.S. Medicine)

Is a person’s risk of pancreatic cancer influenced by where they live? (Yale School of Medicine)

Residents of an affluent Los Angeles-area neighborhood want an explanation as to why several children in their community have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer that normally affects 200-250 people a year, primarily adolescents, teenagers, and young adults. (NBC Los Angeles)

Government red tape and lack of insurance reimbursement have discouraged physicians from taking advantage of a wealth of health data generated by consumer wearable devices. (Axios)

Medicare beneficiaries with “free” medication coverage plans should be on the lookout for that to change — if it hasn’t already. (KFF Health News)

An investigational immunotherapy led to as much as a doubling of progression-free survival in newly diagnosed glioblastoma. (University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Artificial intelligence-aided detection of lung nodules on x-rays saved five low- and middle-income countries $410.4 million over 5 years. (Journal of Medical Economics)

New insight into how obesity promotes development and growth of lung cancer. (Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center)