American Society of Clinical Oncology Identifies Five Key Opportunities to Improve Care and Reduce Costs: The Top Five List for Oncology

The Role of Palliative Chemotherapy in Hospitalized Patients

“…considered too unwell for pct, although there are some notable exceptions: for example, small-cell lung cancer (sclc) is highly chemosensitive and rapidly responsive to therapy [7][8][9][10] . Indeed, in 2012, the American Society of Clinical Oncology published their top five recommendations to improve cancer care and reduce costs 11 , the first of which says "Do not use cancer-directed therapy for patients with solid tumors who have the following characteristics: low performance status (3 or 4), no benefit from prior evidence-based interventions, not eligible for a clinical trial, and with no strong evidence supporting the clinical value of further anticancer treatment." With that recommendation in mind, tools to identify patients who will not benefit from cytotoxic therapy are clearly useful.…”

Contextualizing the Use of Oncologic Imaging within Treatment Phases: Imaging Trends and Modality Preferences, 2000–2014

“…Efforts toward that end have been made in recent years. Treatment of low-prognosis patients with "no strong evidence supporting the clinical value of further anticancer treatment" was identified in 2012 by the American Society of Clinical Oncology as one of the primary targets for reduction of practices unsupported by clinical research 13 . Findings in the present study suggest persistence of a bias against promoting alternatives to aggressive treatment and surveillance on the part of providers despite efforts to the contrary.…”

Cost Implications of Unwarranted Imaging for Distant Metastasis in Women with Early-Stage Breast Cancer in Ontario

“…Several initiatives, including the Choosing Wisely campaign and Choosing Wisely Canada, have focused on eliminating wasteful or unwarranted health care services that provide little or no health benefit to patients 4,5 .…”

“…org) and international (http://www.choosingwisely.org) drives through the Choosing Wisely initiative have set out to ensure the most appropriate use of resources. In response to Choosing Wisely, the American Society of Clinical Oncology published its recommendations on best practices in oncology, advocating against the use of radiologic imaging for distant metastatic disease in asymptomatic patients with pathologic early-stage (i/ii) breast cancer 4 . The American Society of Clinical Oncology based its recommendation in part on the low incidence of radiologically evident metastases in early-stage disease (0.2%-1.2%) 5 .…”