In a Japanese phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Seto et al found that the addition of maintenance pemetrexed to bevacizumab did not significantly improve overall survival in patients with previously untreated, advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Tarhini et al, the phase III Intergroup E1609 trial has shown an overall survival advantage with adjuvant ipilimumab at 3 mg/kg—but not at 10 mg/kg—vs high-dose interferon alfa-2b in patients with resected high-risk cutaneous melanoma. The...
Lack of insurance coverage is a major cause of delayed breast cancer screening and treatment among minority women, which could lead to a decrease in a patient’s chance of survival. Nearly half of the disparity in later-stage diagnosis between non-Hispanic white women and black, Hispanic, and...
In a national cohort study conducted in the United Kingdom and reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nossiter et al found no clinically important differences in patient-reported functional outcomes among men receiving hypofractionated vs conventionally fractionated radiotherapy for...
In the phase II DREAMM-2 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Sagar Lonial, MD, and colleagues found that the antibody-drug conjugate belantamab mafodotin was active in patients with heavily pretreated relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The agent is a conjugate of an anti–B-cell maturation...
In the phase III MEDALIST trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Fenaux et al found that luspatercept significantly reduced the severity of anemia vs placebo in red blood cell transfusion–dependent patients with very low- to intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndromes with ring...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Alexander E. Perl, MD, of Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues, the phase III ADMIRAL trial showed improved overall survival with the oral FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) inhibitor gilteritinib vs salvage...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by George D. Demetri, MD, and colleagues, integrated analysis of three phase I/II trials has shown high levels of activity of the tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitor entrectinib in advanced NTRK fusion–positive solid tumors. This analysis supported the...
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dao et al found that the JAK1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib was active in patients with chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL), with less activity observed in those with atypical chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and greater activity observed...
As reported in JAMA by O’Brien et al, pooled data from four large U.S.-based prospective cohorts suggest the lack of a significant association between the use of powder in the genital area and an increased risk of ovarian cancer. The investigators noted that the analysis may have not been...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Louis Fehrenbacher, MD, and colleagues, the phase III NSABP B-47/NRG Oncology trial has shown no invasive disease–free survival benefit with the addition of trastuzumab to adjuvant chemotherapy therapy in patients with HER2-negative breast cancer...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ambrosone et al, an analysis of the SWOG S0221 trial population suggests that use of antioxidant and nonantioxidant dietary supplements, but not multivitamins, before and during adjuvant chemotherapy may be associated with poorer treatment outcomes ...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Isabelle Ray-Coquard, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the phase III PAOLA-1 trial has shown a progression-free survival benefit with the addition of olaparib to bevacizumab maintenance in patients with advanced ovarian cancer responding to first-line...
As reported in The Lancet by Viola Poeschel, MD, and colleagues, the phase III FLYER trial has shown noninferiority of progression-free survival with four vs six cycles of cyclophosphamide/doxorubicin/vincristine/prednisone (CHOP) in combination with six doses of rituximab in patients with...
As reported in The Lancet by Frank A. Vicini, MD, and colleagues, 10-year follow-up in the phase III NSABP B-39/RTOG 0413 equivalence trial has shown that accelerated partial-breast irradiation did not achieve equivalence to whole-breast irradiation in preventing local recurrence in women receiving ...
In the phase II TOPARP-B trial—reported by Mateo et al in The Lancet Oncology—investigators found that olaparib showed activity in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and DNA damage response (DDR) gene aberrations who had received one or two prior taxane regimens. Study...
Interim analysis of the phase I/II KEYNOTE-051 trial, reported in The Lancet Oncology by Geoerger et al, indicated minimal activity of pembrolizumab in pediatric patients with programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)-positive advanced, relapsed, or refractory solid tumors; however, activity was...
In a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pooled analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jennifer J. Gao, MD, and colleagues found that the magnitude of progression-free survival benefit with the addition of a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor to endocrine therapy in women with...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Jeffrey D. Bradley, MD, and colleagues, long-term results of the phase III NRG Oncology/RTOG 0617 trial indicate that standard-dose radiotherapy should remain the standard of care in chemoradiotherapy for nonresectable stage III non–small cell...
In an analysis reported in Annals of Oncology, Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that pembrolizumab was active in both KRAS-mutant and wild-type tumors in a subgroup of patients in the KEYNOTE-042 trial with programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)-positive nonsquamous non–small cell lung...
In a two-institute phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Malone et al found no difference in biochemical relapse–free survival with androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) initiated prior to or concurrently with dose-escalated external-beam radiotherapy in patients with localized ...
In a study reported in JCO Precision Oncology, Gutierrez et al found that most patients in a U.S. sample diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer between 2013 and 2017 did not receive guideline-aligned genomic testing for RAS, BRAF, and microsatellite instability/mismatch repair–deficiency (MSI/dMMR) ...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, and colleagues, in the phase III MONALEESA-3 trial, the second interim analysis of overall survival has shown a significant benefit with the addition of ribociclib to fulvestrant in first- or second-line treatment of...
As reported in The Lancet by Maria-Victoria Mateos, MD, and colleagues, interim analysis of overall survival in the phase III ALCYONE trial has shown a significant benefit of the addition of daratumumab to bortezomib, melphalan, and prednisone (D-VMP) in patients with newly diagnosed multiple...
As reported by Jack Cuzick, PhD, and colleagues in The Lancet, blinded follow-up of the IBIS-II trial has shown the continued benefit of anastrozole vs placebo in preventing breast cancer in high-risk postmenopausal women during the 5-year posttreatment period. For the international double-blind...
In a Danish study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lauritsen et al found that patients treated for germ cell cancer exhibited an increase of cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular disease at short- and long-term follow-up. Study Details The study involved 5,185 patients with...
In a Korean phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Myung-Ju Ahn, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that osimertinib was active in patients with metastatic or recurrent non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with uncommon EGFR mutations. Study Details In the multicenter study, 36...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Robert Coleman, MD, FRCP, and colleagues, the phase III D-CARE trial has shown no benefit of adjuvant therapy with the RANKL inhibitor denosumab vs placebo in improving bone metastasis–free survival in women with moderate- to high-risk early breast cancer....
In a phase I trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Hughes et al found that asciminib, an oral BCR-ABL1 inhibitor with a mechanism of action different from available ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors, was active in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) after failure of ABL...
Early in 2019, trastuzumab and the endoglycosidase hyaluronidase-oysk for subcutaneous injection was approved in the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer.1,2 The agent is indicated for adjuvant treatment of patients with HER2-overexpressing node-positive or node-negative (estrogen...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. Late in 2018, rituximab-abbs was approved as the first...
Findings in the phase Ib KEYNOTE-013 and phase II KEYNOTE-170 trials, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Philippe Armand, MD, PhD, of DanaFarber Cancer Institute, and colleagues, indicate that pembrolizumab is active in relapsed or refractory primary mediastinal large B-cell...
As reported in The Lancet by Barbara Burtness, MD, of the Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, and colleagues, the phase III KEYNOTE-048 trial has shown improved overall survival with first-line pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy vs cetuximab plus chemotherapy among patients...
Findings from the phase II NRG Oncology/RTOG 1014 trial, reported in JAMA Oncology by Douglas W. Arthur, MD, and colleagues showed that partial-breast reirradiation after second lumpectomy for recurrence of ipsilateral breast cancer following previous whole-breast irradiation was an effective...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Trasias Mukama, MPH, and colleagues identified risk-adapted screening starting ages for relatives of patients with breast cancer according to the number of affected first-degree and second-degree relatives and the age at diagnosis of affected relatives. The...
In a Canadian phase II crossover trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Kim N. Chi, MD, and colleagues found that time to second prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression from start of treatment was longer with crossover from abiraterone acetate/prednisone to enzalutamide vs the reverse sequence ...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Daniel P. Petrylak, MD, and colleagues, the phase III RANGE trial has shown no significant improvement in overall survival with the addition of ramucirumab to docetaxel in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma previously treated...
As reported by Noelle V. Frey, MD, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, single-center experience with the anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel has shown that high-dose fractionated infusion with the ability to modify dosing in case of early signs...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Iqbal and colleagues, the phase II SWOG S1201 trial showed a progression-free survival benefit with platinum-containing vs nonplatinum treatment among all patients with previously untreated HER2-negative advanced esophagogastric cancer and in a...
In the Dutch DENSE study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Bakker et al found that supplemental magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in women with extremely dense breast tissue and normal results on screening mammography was associated with the diagnosis of significantly fewer interval...
Late in 2018, the FLT3 inhibitor gilteritinib was approved for the treatment of adult patients who have relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a FLT3 mutation, as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test.1,2 The FDA also approved an expanded indication...
In early 2019, pembrolizumab was approved for the adjuvant treatment of patients with melanoma with involvement of lymph node(s) following complete resection.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the double-blind EORTC 1325/KEYNOTE-054 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier...
In a Swedish study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pohlkamp et al identified factors associated with levels of prolonged grief symptoms in parents of children who have died of cancer, with factors being found to differ between mothers and fathers.1 As stated by the investigators,...
On November 21, 2019, the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor acalabrutinib was approved for the treatment of adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).1,2 The review resulting in approval was conducted under Project Orbis, an initiative of the U.S....
In the phase III Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup ICON8 trial reported in The Lancet, Clamp et al found that first-line weekly dose-dense chemotherapy did not improve progression-free survival vs standard 3-weekly chemotherapy in a predominantly European population with epithelial ovarian cancer....
In a study (NCI-MATCH trial subprotocol, arm Z1D) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Azad et al found that nivolumab was active in mismatch repair–deficient noncolorectal cancers. As stated by the investigators, “The National Cancer Institute Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Emily Stamell Ruiz, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that rising drug costs and use accounted for 56% and 44%, respectively, of increased Medicare Part D spending on oral anticancer drugs between 2013 and 2017. Study Details The analysis...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Richard S. Finn, MD, and colleagues, the phase III KEYNOTE-240 trial has shown no statistically significant progression-free or overall survival benefit with pembrolizumab vs placebo in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who were...
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, and colleagues found that most patients undergoing radiation therapy for cancer reported that they did not experience anticipated radiotherapy adverse effects, or that the adverse effect was no worse than expected....
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Benefield et al found that black women with borderline estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer had significantly poorer disease-free interval compared with those with ER-positive disease, irrespective of whether they...