Oncology Reimbursement Cuts; Cancer-Prone Geckos; Sam Neill’s Rare Blood Cancer

The Medicare physician fee schedule proposed by CMS for 2027 will result in a 1.5% payment cut for hematology/oncology and a 1.5% increase for radiation oncology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology estimated.

The FDA approved the first generics of the EGFR inhibitor afatinib (Gilotrif) for non-small cell lung cancer.

And the agency fully approved selpercatinib (Retevmo) for patients 2 years and older with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors with a RET gene fusion.

The lemon frost gecko — which has a high risk of tumors — could be a model for how cancer develops and spreads. (University of Nottingham)

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) alone improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared with platinum doublet chemotherapy in patients with mismatch repair-deficient advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer, Merck announced.

PFS results in trials of hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer were not significantly different whether assessed by blinded central review or local investigators, a meta-analysis found. (JAMA Oncology)

Ultra-high-dose-rate proton beam radiation therapy — called FLASH — safely and effectively reduced pain in patients with thoracic bone metastases in a clinical trial. (University of Cincinnati)

A smoking cessation treatment program that utilized virtual therapy plus nicotine replacement therapy in community oncology care settings nearly doubled quit rates for cancer patients who smoke. (Journal of Clinical Oncology)

“Jurassic Park” actor Sam Neill, who died this week of pneumonia, was in remission from his angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma following CAR T-cell therapy. (ABC News)

Medicare patients diagnosed with cancer following an emergency department visit had significantly worse survival. (UNC Health)

A U.S. attorney in California wants the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate a cluster of rare pediatric cancer cases in the Ladera Ranch community. (NBC Los Angeles)