News

The COVID-19 pandemic can affect every stage of the cancer experience: from diagnosis to adverse event management.

The FDA has approved the FoundationOne Liquid CDx, a liquid biopsy for all solid tumors with multiple companion diagnostic indications.

The FDA has approved a generic form of pemetrexed for intravenous administration as a single-agent in patients with locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has not progressed following 4 cycles of first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.

Clinical cancer trials that fail to successfully enroll a racially and ethnically diverse patient population run the risk of leaving critical gaps in understanding regarding the effectiveness of new approaches. The importance of inclusion in such efforts is underscored even further as more studies demonstrate race-based differences in relation to immune status, incidences of tumor mutation, and even mortality rate in patients with cancer.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done to determine the optimal use for immunotherapy in patients with sarcoma.

Investigational CAR T-cell therapy products have demonstrated unprecedented responses rates with seemingly durable remissions in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, explained Luciano J. Costa, MD.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided an update on breast-implant associated side effects that have been reported to the agency, including breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BI-ALCL) and symptoms that are commonly referred to by patients as breast implant illness (BII).

Following a period of stagnation, rapid advances have been made in the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), according to Bradley G. Somer, MD, but as more options emerge in all lines of treatment, sequencing approaches will require careful consideration.

Bradley McGregor, MD, discusses some of the recent approaches that have emerged in bladder cancer and renal cell carcinoma, as well as anticipated developments in each field.

We want to hear about how nursing education has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The FDA has granted a fast track designation to paxalisib for the treatment of patients with glioblastoma.

The FDA has approved daratumumab in combination with carfilzomib and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma who have received 1 or more prior lines of therapy.

Men receiving ADT were less likely to contract the infection that causes the coronavirus, according to a large Italian study.

The HER2-positive breast cancer treatment paradigm is constantly changing, explained Debu Tripathy, MD, who cited that in less than 1 year, there have been 2 exciting drug approvals, which are tucatinib (Tukysa) and fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (Enhertu).

Several trials in the field of first-line metastatic urothelial cancer are testing combinations with gemcitabine/platinum-based therapy followed by maintenance avelumab.

The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted in favor of approving remestemcel-L for the treatment of children with steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease.

Nivolumab in combination with chemotherapy as a frontline treatment demonstrated a significant survival benefit in patients with metastatic gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer, or esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Racial and ethnic disparities in cancer clinical trials has a pressing challenge that not only impacts diagnostics and treatment of minority populations, but also raises the question of whether trial results are truly applicable across all populations, according to Ruben Mesa, MD.

More than 500,000 people signed a petition demanding better protection for nurses and other health care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The FDA has approved Guardant360® CDx for comprehensive genomic profiling in patients with any solid malignant cancer.

Although the genomic profiles of African American men with prostate cancer differ from those of European American men, new data show that the frequency of actionable mutations for which targeted therapies exist occurs at a comparable rate in both populations.

Telehealth is likely to stay in the oncology realm, even after the novel coronavirus 2019 pandemic passes.

The FDA has approved belantamab mafodotin-blmf (Blenrep) as a treatment for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma who have received 4 prior therapies, including an immunomodulatory drug, a proteasome inhibitor, and an anti-CD38 antibody.

The novel multimodal FirstSightCRC test has shown promise in identifying colorectal cancer (CRC), as well as precancerous polyps and advanced adenomas, said Shai Friedland, MD, who added that results from the blood-based assay can inform whether a patient should undergo a colonoscopy.

The FDA granted an orphan drug designation to the oral investigational modified proprietary tyrosine derivative SM-88 as a treatment for patients with pancreatic cancer.

Although pancreatic cancer has been a historically difficult disease to treat, the emergence of novel combinations have allowed for more patients to receive later lines of therapy, and recent advances have inspired a shift to more personalized treatment approaches to improve outcomes, according to Syma Iqbal, MD.

Each month, we take a look back at the most popular Oncology Nursing News® stories. Here are the top 5 stories from July 2020.

The FDA approved atezolizumab plus cobimetinib and vemurafenib for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive advanced melanoma.