Significant Opportunities Are Ahead to Improve Health Equity, Provide Patient-Centered Oncology Treatment, Care

The end of the year is a hectic time for oncology professionals. Beyond time off for the holidays and plans for celebrations with family and friends, the month of December contains some of the top conferences in the field. Conferences such as the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) and the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting (ASH) occur during a period of little more than a week, with late-breaking data and news relevant to the field flooding social media channels, email inboxes, and oncology pharmacy media outlets.

As one such media outlet, Pharmacy Times Oncology Edition^™ will be covering SABCS and ASH this year in a special January 2023 issue that will help summarize the content and research of interest to oncology pharmacy professionals. The issue will include interviews with conference session presenters, articles summarizing research from key study authors, and onsite session coverage. The issue aims to provide added insight for those who may have missed a conference altogether or may not have been present for all key SABCS and ASH session presentations, which—considering the extensive agendas of each conference—is likely most everyone.

In this issue, Kevin Pang, PharmD, provides insight into some recent major strides in advancing immunotherapy for first-line treatment of unresectable locally advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in the cover story on page 18. Pang explains how the addition of immune checkpoint inhibitors in particular has transformed modern clinical practice.

On page 21, Rachel K. Anderson, PharmD, CSP, describes some of the trends in breast cancer treatment development, with a specific look at the current therapeutic pipeline for the disease.

With significant advancements in oncology treatments and ongoing progress focused toward addressing social determinants of health and greater health equity in cancer care, 2022 has been a noteworthy year for the field. Looking to 2023, there remain significant opportunities on the road ahead to improve patient outcomes and patient-centered oncology treatment and care.