In two clinical trials, patients who received fruquintinib (Fruzaqla™) had an overall survival of 7.4 and 9.3 months compared to 4.8 and 6.6 months with placebo, leading to the drug’s November 2023 U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for adults with metastatic colorectal cancer who previously received standard chemotherapy and experienced disease progression. 

Nurses are at the top of the U.S. public’s list of high-quality healthcare providers, according to the results of a new Gallup poll assessing opinions about the care provided in the U.S. healthcare system.

A new Biden administration rule released Wednesday aims to streamline the prior authorization process used by insurers to approve medical procedures and treatments. Prior authorization is a common tool used by insurers but much maligned by providers and patients, who say it’s often used to deny provider-recommended care.

If you feel that the hours in your day are all work and no play, you’re not alone. More than 20% of RNs reported working 41–50 hours per week on the 2022 National Nursing Workforce Survey—a statistic that’s increased since the 2017 and 2020 surveys, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers said. Nurses are already overworked and burned out, and well-meaning consumer health media suggestions to simply “practice work–life balance” may add feelings of stress and inadequacy.

Patients with breast cancer who have vitamin D insufficiency have a 45% increased likelihood to develop grade 3 or higher chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) with paclitaxel, researchers reported in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The findings identify a racial disparity because the increased risk was more common among Black patients (who are more likely to have vitamin D insufficiency), where it more often linked to sensory CIPN.

In a clinical trial of 65 patients with metastatic or recurrent Merkel cell carcinoma who had not previously received systemic therapy for advanced disease, treatment with retifanlimab-dlwr (Zynyz™) achieved a 52% overall response rate and 18% complete response rate, leading the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to grant it accelerated approval in March 2023.  

Unavailability of necessary drugs, supplies, and equipment—including an increasing number of lifesaving drugs with no viable alternatives—because of shortages are “making it nearly impossible to provide safe, high-quality patient care in a fiscally responsible manner,” healthcare professionals across a variety of disciplines reported on a 2023 ECRI and Institute for Safe Medication Practices survey.

On January 19, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved erdafitinib (Balversa^®) for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) with susceptible FGFR3 genetic alterations, as determined by an FDA-approved companion diagnostic test, whose disease has progressed on or after at least one line of prior systemic therapy. Erdafitinib is not recommended for the treatment of patients who are eligible for and have not received prior PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor therapy.

On January 19, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it is adding a boxed warning to the denosumab (Prolia^®) prescribing information about the significant risk of developing severe hypocalcemia in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease. The warning and new labeling contain information to help reduce that risk, including appropriately selecting patients for denosumab treatment, increased monitoring of blood calcium levels, and other strategies.

Developing new scientific questions and cutting-edge analytical tools, promoting better research collaboration, and propelling new discoveries in treatment and care, the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) Childhood Cancer Data Initiative granted administrative supplements to fund eight new studies in December 2023.