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UK cancer care is in the spotlight again following publication of two reports this week highlighting underfunded and overstretched diagnostic services, leaving patients waiting longer for their diagnosis and thus delaying treatment…It recently emerged that the ’62-day wait’ target…has been breached for six consecutive quarters, indicating that services are buckling under growing pressure… the reports… conclude that insufficient funding, workforces shortages and a lack of imaging equipment, with much of that in use out of date, is weighing heavily on diagnostic services throughout the country.

NIH award enables researchers to take deep dive into two genomic disorders (familial hypercholesterolemia and chronic rhinosinusitis)…Two Geisinger researchers,..have been awarded more than $3.5 million as part of a national effort to better understand the genetic basis of disease. The research will lead to tailoring medical treatment based on patients' genetic makeup…is part of the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics, or eMERGE, Network administered by the National Human Genome Research Institute.

International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists submitted comments on the Food & Drug Administration's underestimated time and cost burden of reporting adverse events by 503B outsourcing facilities.

Stuck in a pharmacy career rut? Not interested in the traditional job options in retail, independent, or hospital pharmacy? Here are 4 nontraditional jobs for pharmacists:

• NASA Pharmacist
• Nuclear Pharmacist
• Prison Pharmacist
• Medical Writer

In 2011-2012, the estimated prevalence of diabetes among U.S. adults was 12% to 14% and the prevalence of prediabetes was 37% to 38%, indicating that about half of the U.S. adult population has either diabetes or prediabetes, according to a study in the Sept. 8 issue of JAMA. Though data from recent years suggests that the increasing prevalence of diabetes may be leveling off… Diabetes is a major cause of illness and death in the United States, costing an estimated $245 billion in 2012 due to increased use of health resources and lost productivity.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced…a new program, "Prescription Drug Overdose: Prevention for States," which aims to invest in 16 states currently battling an epidemic of prescription drug overdoses. The program will commit $20 million…part of the Dept. of Health and Human Services’ Opioid initiative… money will go to enhance prescription drug monitoring programs, implementing community-level prevention, responding to overdose issues, developing communications campaigns or surveillance systems and working with providers, health systems and insurers to discuss how to make informed prescribing decisions around pain medication.

AstraZeneca and The University of Manchester…announced a collaboration harnessing clinical bioinformatics to deliver personalised healthcare for cancer patients. The five-year agreement will see the organisations apply clinical trial bioinformatics to better identify the right cancer treatment for the right patient at the right time…AstraZeneca will provide a total of £11.5 million ($17.5million) to support clinical bioinformatics research led by…the…Centre for Cancer Biomarker Sciences at the Manchester Cancer Research Centre.

Novo Nordisk…announced that a research collaboration has been initiated with the Langer Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for what is hoped to be the next generation of drug delivery devices for the administration of peptides… as an alternative to parenteral or injection-based delivery of peptides… creating new approaches for delivering drugs such as peptides and proteins across complex barriers in the body such as the blood-brain barrier, the intestine, the lung and the skin.

Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc….filed a lawsuit seeking a court order allowing it to promote its post-surgery pain drug, Exparel (bupivacaine), for a wide range of surgeries, which the Food and Drug Administration opposes…Pacira contends that its own marketing is not for off-label use…Exparel,… is approved for administration into the site of surgery to produce post-surgery pain relief…approval was based on studies of its use in bunionectomies and hemorrhoidectomies,…Pacira, however, has promoted it for use in all kinds of surgeries.

Pat Basu, MD, MBA, chief medical officer of Doctor on Demand, discusses legislative issues and technology that could affect pharmacy.