Cancer doctors from across the U.S. are lending their voices to a new advocacy campaign to end drug shortages. Led by the Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO), nearly 500 oncology professionals have signed an open letter to Congress and the administration highlighting the severe impact of drug shortages on cancer care and urging swift action from lawmakers.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the 2025 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters final rule and the 2025 Medicare Advantage and Part D final rule. The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) submitted comments on the proposed versions of both rules. Summaries of the final rules, highlighting provisions ASCO commented on, are included here.  

State governments are increasingly considering legislation to streamline prior authorizations processes, which Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) members say delay patient care, adversely affect cancer care outcomes, and divert providers from patient care. States have regulatory authority over fully insured health benefit plans (group and individual plans) and health benefit plans administered by the state itself (Medicaid and state employee benefit plans). This means that state governments can impact plan design through either legislation or regulatory action, and during the past decade, a majority of states have been working to leverage that impact to reform prior authorization.

Today the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Labor and the Treasury Department finalized a rule regulating the availability of short-term limited duration insurance (STLDI) plans. The rule would restrict the availability of these plans to no more than four months.

On March 22, 2024, the Food and Drug Administration approved mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx (Elahere, ImmunoGen, Inc. [now a part of AbbVie]) for adult patients with FRα positive, platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer, who have received one to three prior systemic treatment regimens. Patients are selected based on an FDA-approved test. Mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx previously received accelerated approval for this indication.

Congress passed a spending package March 23, 2024, that funds the federal government, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI), through September 30— the end of the 2024 Fiscal Year.

On March 19, 2024, the Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to ponatinib (Iclusig, Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.) with chemotherapy for adult patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL).