News
The Society for Integrative Oncology has published a first-of-its kind breast cancer clinical practice guidelines in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute Monographs coinciding with the 11th International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology in Houston, Texas at the end of October. NorCal CarciNet Community President, Josh Mailman contributed a perspective on Integrative Oncology to the Monograph entitled "A Patients' Perspective on Integrative Oncology: Getting Past the "War," Living With and Beyond Cancer.
Ga-68 DOTATOC, Ga-68-labeled somatostatin analogs are important imaging agents to detect and manage neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). The SNMMI formed the 68Ga Users Group to advance the use of these imaging agents in the US. Members of the Users Group developed harmonized release criteria, an imaging manual, generic data collection forms and a draft informed consent form to aid the community in establishing investigator-sponsored trials. In October 2013, the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) received orphan drug designation for Ga-68 DOTATOC.
Click here to see the slides from the Gallium Information Session held in St. Louis during the SNMMI Annual Meeting on June 9th, 2014.
NorCal CarciNET Community continues to support the work of the 68Ga Users Group. Our president, Josh Mailman has been a member of the working group which meets monthly since January 2012.
NorCal CarciNet Community President, Josh Mailman was featured in the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's Clinical Trials Pathways Newsletter in January, 2014. Josh's article "68Ga PET/CT Advances in the United States: A Personal Journey" chronicles the work that Josh did with the Gallium 68 working group to bring Ga68 imaging to the United States. To download a copy of Pathways click here.
March 31, 2014 marks the deadline for getting insurance under the Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA) for this year, with March 15, 2014 being the deadline if you would like the insurance to start on April 1, 2014. Open enrollment for 2015 will start on October 15, 2014 and end on December 15, 2014.
If you have questions about the AHCA, please see the presentation that was made to our group in December by the Cancer Legal Resource Foundation by clicking here.
BREAKING NEWS – the radiopharmaceutical Gallium-68 (DOTA0-hel-Tyr3) octreotide (Ga-68 DOTATOC) has been designated as an orphan drug by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the management of neuroendocrine tumors. This designation is significant because it may lead to faster approval of the agent, which would greatly benefit carcinoid/NET patients in the United States. Click here to read the full release the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging and from Josh Mailman, chairman of the Society’s Patient Advocacy Advisory Board and president of the NorCal CarciNET Community.