Value-Based Cancer Care

On May 27, 2026, the FDA approved pivekimab sunirine-pvzy (Decnupaz) for adults with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN), an ultra-rare hematologic malignancy. The approval was supported by the CADENZA study, a multicenter, open-label, single-arm trial that enrolled adults with treatment- naive or relapsed/refractory BPDCN without evidence of active central nervous system disease. Efficacy was based on the rate of complete remission or clinical complete remission (CR/CRc).

On March 13, 2026, the Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA) fined Cigna $80,000 and ordered the insurer to stop automatically downcoding evaluation and management (E/M) claims. The policy at the center of the order, Cigna’s Reimbursement Policy R49, had been in effect since October 1, 2025.

The financial aspect of cancer care deeply affects the patient’s experience economically, physically, and psychologically. Patients experience financial stress and anxiety as they navigate treatment decisions and adherence. This financial burden often leads to diminished trust in the healthcare system and communication barriers.

On March 11, 2026, the FDA announced the launch of the FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System (AEMS), a unified platform designed to modernize and streamline the agency’s analysis of adverse event reports. This initiative marks a significant milestone in the FDA’s commitment to improving transparency and efficiency in postmarket surveillance of regulated products. “The FDA’s previous adverse event reporting systems were outdated and fragmented and made important data difficult to access.

On February 19, 2026, the FDA approved the combination of acalabrutinib (Calquence) and venetoclax (Venclexta) for adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). The approval was based on the AMPLIFY trial (NCT03836261), a randomized, multicenter study involving previously untreated adults with CLL without del(17p) or TP53 mutations.

Sweeping insurance and policy changes are poised to reshape how patients access and maintain coverage across Medicare, the Marketplace, Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Imagine you are a healthcare provider seeing a complex patient with symptoms that could point to hundreds of conditions. Now imagine you have to do it without labs, without imaging, without the patient’s social and family history. The potential outcomes are endless; sometimes you might diagnose and treat them correctly, other times you might not. The worst scenario would be if you only treated the patient’s symptom while the underlying disease continued to progress and worsen.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, but advances in molecular biology have transformed treatment from a one-size-fits-all approach to one guided by precision medicine. At the 2025 ONS Bridge Conference, Julie Martin, DNP, APRN, Director of Cancer Research at Prisma Health, reflected on how far the field has come.

With major reimbursement and coverage changes occurring in 2026, oncology practices are closely watching federal policy developments that could affect everything from prior authorization workflows to drug reimbursement and patient coverage stability.

Gastric cancer ranks among the most prevalent cancers globally. A significant number of patients receive their diagnosis at advanced stages, primarily because the early symptoms are often subtle, and regular screening is infrequently conducted.1 Systemic chemotherapy is the mainstay treatment for metastatic gastric cancer1; however, the use of targeted therapies has evolved significantly.