Medscape Oncology Insights recently published an interview I conducted with Dr Jeff Sharman, director of research at Willamette Valley Cancer Institute and medical director of hematology research for The US Oncology Network. The focus of the interview was to better understand how community oncology practices are aligning with large academic centers to improve cancer patients’ access to CAR-T cellular therapies. Assuring that patients with cancer get access to life-altering therapies is critical to improve their outcomes. This interview was taped in December 2019 during the annual American Society of Hematology meeting.
Personally, I don’t like the hyperbole of certain names, such as “game changers,” but chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies have truly changed blood cancers. And yet, many see the community oncology setting as ill-equipped to offer these therapies. Suggested barriers as to what hinders CAR T-cell therapies from being offered to patients in the community setting include logistics, cost, and perhaps a lack of education about the therapies themselves. I think we can all agree that patients are best served when they have access to the right therapy that they need at the right time and in the right geographic location that they prefer.