FDA Grants Priority Review to Lurbinectedin to Treat SCLC
February 17th 2020The FDA has granted a priority review designation to a new drug application (NDA) for lurbinectedin as a treatment for patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) who have progressed following platinum-containing therapy.
Ilixadencel Added to Sunitinib May Improve RCC Outcomes
February 15th 2020The addition of the off-the-shelf cancer immune primer ilixadencel to sunitinib (Sutent) trended toward a benefit in overall survival (OS) compared with sunitinib alone as a first-line treatment for patients with newly diagnosed metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
Immunotherapy Plus Chemo Improves Metastatic TNBC Outcomes
February 14th 2020The frontline combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and chemotherapy significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) whose tumors expressed PD-L1 (combined positive score [CPS] ≥10), meeting one of the dual primary endpoints of the phase III KEYNOTE-355 trial.
FDA Grants Priority Review to KTE-X19 for Treatment of Mantle Cell Lymphoma
February 11th 2020The biologic license application is supported by data from the phase II ZUMA-2 trial, which is currently assessing the CAR T-cell therapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma.
Surgery Refinements Named ASCO's Advance of the Year
February 9th 2020Following significant progress made in the development of novel systemic therapies for patients with cancer, the role of surgery in oncology continues to evolve. To this end, ASCO has selected the refinement of surgical treatment of cancer as its Advance of the Year.
FDA Extends Review Period for Avapritinib to Treat GIST
February 8th 2020The FDA has extended the Prescription Drug User Fee Act deadline for a new drug application (NDA) for avapritinib (Ayvakit) as a treatment for adult patients with fourth-line gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). The deadline, which was initially February 14, 2020, has been extended by 3 months to May 14, 2020, according to BluePrint Medicines, the developer of avapritinib.
Increasing Prostate Cancer Screening Takes a Team Approach
February 6th 2020With the advent of targeted therapy, understanding the genetic components of a patient's disease has become critical in oncology. As the role of genetic testing in prostate cancer has grown, the field is also overcoming hurdles with making it more widespread, said Thomas J. Polascik, MD.
Unmet Needs Remain in TNBC Treatment
February 3rd 2020Despite the emergence of PARP inhibitors, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and immunotherapy in the treatment of patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), more work is needed to propel further progress, according to Kevin Kalinsky, MD, MS.
Biomarkers Predict Osteosarcoma Treatment Response
February 2nd 2020The presence of the proteins p16 and p21 has shown to be predictive of treatment response in patients with osteosarcoma, a disease that previously had no identified biomarkers to indicate whether or not patients would benefit from therapy, explained C. Parker Gibbs, MD.
FDA Grants Priority Review to Selpercatinib for Lung and Thyroid Cancer Subsets
January 31st 2020The FDA has granted a priority review designation to a new drug application (NDA) for selpercatinib (LOXO-292) for the treatment of patients with advanced RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), and RET fusion–positive thyroid cancer.
Combination Therapy Bests Standard of Care in BRAF+ CRC
January 28th 2020Encorafenib (Braftovi) plus cetuximab (Erbitux) with or without binimetinib (Mektovi) demonstrated longer maintenance of quality of life (QoL) on patient-reported assessments over current standard of care in the treatment of patients with BRAF V600E-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer.
Expert Discusses Individualized Care for GI Cancers
January 27th 2020While earlier efforts of precision medicine focused on basket trials, Tanios S. Bekaii-Saab, MD, explained that it’s time for the field of oncology to move on to umbrella trial designs that can better target an individual cancer.
Updated Data Unveiled With Emerging Treatments in Myeloma
January 25th 2020Updated data on several emerging treatment modalities were presented at the 2019 ASH Annual Meeting in multiple myeloma, including CAR T-cell therapy, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), bispecific T-cell engagers (BiTEs), and a novel selinexor (Xpovio) combination, explained Sandy W. Wong, MD.