The addition of the PARP (poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase) inhibitor olaparib to standard-of-care abiraterone in the first-line setting of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer achieved longer progression-free survival vs abiraterone alone, as demonstrated in the final results of the phase...
Presented here are summaries of three abstracts from the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting that are pertinent for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The first two focus on men with homologous recombinant repair (HRR) gene alterations, including BRCA1/2. In the first study,...
The addition of cabozantinib to nivolumab plus ipilimumab prolonged progression-free survival in untreated intermediate-risk patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), according to the first results of the phase III COSMIC-313 trial. These findings were presented as a Presidential Symposium ...
The 3-year follow-up of the phase III CheckMate 9ER trial demonstrates superior outcomes with the combination of nivolumab plus cabozantinib vs the former standard-of-care sunitinib as first-line treatment of advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma.1 These benefits were achieved with the...
At extended follow-up, lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab showed sustained superiority over sunitinib for overall and progression-free survival as first-line treatment for advanced renal cell carcinoma.1 The majority of the benefit was observed in intermediate- and poor-risk subgroups, according to the...
It is an exciting time in the development of new treatments for urologic cancers. There have been a number of major changes both in advanced disease and in the perioperative setting over the past year. Urothelial and Bladder Cancers In urothelial cancer, at last, we have randomized data supporting...
On August 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the HEPZATO KIT, a melphalan hepatic delivery system, as a liver-directed treatment for adult patients with metastatic uveal melanoma and unresectable hepatic metastases affecting less than 50% of the liver and no extrahepatic...
On August 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to elranatamab-bcmm (Elrexfio), a bispecific B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed CD3 T-cell engager, for adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four prior...
Insights on findings from the phase II MonumenTAL-1 trial1 were offered by Ajay K. Nooka, MD, MPH, Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, and Medical Director of the Winship Data and Technology Applications Shared Resource, Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University School ...
Compared with the standard of care for relapsed multiple myeloma, a single infusion of ciltacabtagene autoleucel was associated with a significant 74% reduction in the risk of disease progression in patients with lenalidomide-refractory multiple myeloma after one to three relapses, the phase III...
Alexey Danilov, MD, PhD, Co-Director, Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center and Professor, Division of Lymphoma, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, California, commented on the phase III ALPINE trial comparing ibrutinib and zanubrutinib in patients...
“Pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the paradigmatic success story in hematology,” said Joseph C. Alvarnas, MD, Professor in the Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplant, Vice President of Government Affairs, and Chief Clinical Advisor for AccessHope at City of Hope...
The standard of care could be changing for adults with newly diagnosed BCR-ABL–negative B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who achieve measurable residual disease (MRD) negativity after induction chemotherapy. In the phase III E1910 trial by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group, an...
New research has confirmed the superiority of lisocabtagene maraleucel over the standard of care for the second-line treatment of primary refractory or early relapsed large B-cell lymphoma, according to data presented by lead study author Jeremy S. Abramson, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at...
Zanubrutinib—a next-generation Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor—achieved high response rates and durable disease control with a low incidence of cardiac effects in patients with relapsed or refractory marginal zone lymphoma, according to updated findings from the final analysis of the phase ...
Formal discussant of the SWOG S1826 abstract, Ann S. LaCasce, MD, MMSc, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, said she was “excited” by these results. “The data speak for themselves. Nivolumab plus AVD [doxorubicin, vinblastine, dacarbazine] should be the treatment of choice, with more...
The addition of nivolumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, to chemotherapy significantly improved progression-free survival in adults and children with advanced classical Hodgkin lymphoma with reduced toxicity compared with standard-of-care brentuximab vedotin plus chemotherapy, according to the...
In the primary overall survival analysis of ZUMA-7, second-line treatment with axicabtagene ciloleucel significantly improved overall survival compared with high-dose therapy plus autologous stem cell transplantation (auto-HCT) in patients with early relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma....
The past several months have brought significant advances within the field of hematologic oncology. Here we will review some key updates focusing on pivotal clinical trials and new drug approvals. Advances in Lymphoma Presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting, SWOG S1826 compared nivolumab plus...
On August 11, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the fixed-dose combination of niraparib and abiraterone acetate (Akeega), with prednisone, for adult patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious BRCA-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, as determined by...
On August 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to the bispecific antibody talquetamab-tgvs (Talvey) for adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four prior lines of therapy (including a proteasome inhibitor, an...
I knew the moment my fingers found a lump in my left breast, in 2018, that it was cancer, and I wondered if I was going to die. My maternal grandmother had been diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 39, the same age I was when I discovered the mass in my breast. She died 5 years later. Divorced ...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. With this installment, we launch a new series of articles on commercially available chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies. Syed Ali Abutalib, MD, and Jennifer N. ...
Two studies presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting challenge the use of CDK4/6 inhibitors as part of upfront treatment of advanced hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. The first, the SONIA trial, found that first-line treatment with CDK4/6 inhibitors led to greater toxicity...
In patients with N2 and N3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma, adjuvant treatment with concurrent gemcitabine and cisplatin significantly improved progression-free survival, with acceptable toxicity, over fluorouracil plus cisplatin, according to a phase III trial reported from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer...
Presented here are summaries of three abstracts from the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting that are pertinent for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The first two focus on men with homologous recombinant repair (HRR) gene alterations, including BRCA1/2. In the first study,...
The second-generation FLT3 inhibitor quizartinib has recently emerged as a treatment option for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in both FLT3-ITD–wild-type and FLT3-ITD–mutated cases. At the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2023 Hybrid Congress, several studies demonstrated the...
On August 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved trifluridine and tipiracil (Lonsurf) with bevacizumab for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer previously treated with fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin-, and irinotecan-based chemotherapy, an anti-VEGF biological therapy, and, if ...
A new therapeutic option is under study for use in a difficult-to-treat subset of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a presentation during the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2023 Hybrid Congress.1 Exploratory results of the phase III MORPHO trial showed a benefit to the ...
A combination of resistance and aerobic exercise may improve sexual function in patients with prostate cancer, according to a new study conducted in Australia. The research was presented by Galvao et al at the 2023 ASCO Breakthrough meeting (Abstract 71) in Yokohama, Japan. “Sexual dysfunction is a ...
As presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting, the phase III IMerge trial of imetelstat1 and the phase III COMMANDS trial of luspatercept2 met their primary endpoints of transfusion independence. The findings suggest that lower-risk patients with transfusion-dependent, non-del(5q) myelodysplastic...
In the primary analysis of the phase III randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled IMerge trial, in those achieving the primary endpoint of 8-week transfusion independence, treatment with imetelstat significantly reduced transfusion dependence—for a median duration of 1 year—and improved a...
As a first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab plus weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel provided clinically significant efficacy in the phase II FRAIL-IMMUNE (GORTEC 2018-03) trial.1 This regimen may prove to be an effective...
Long-term follow-up of selinexor maintenance therapy in patients with p53 wild-type endometrial cancer has demonstrated anticancer activity, according to data presented by Brian M. Slomovitz, MD, and colleagues during the ASCO Plenary Series: July 2023 Session (Abstract 427956). Results of the...
Additional follow-up of the phase III TROPiCS-02 trial has upheld the progression-free and overall survival benefit seen with sacituzumab govitecan-hziy compared with physician’s choice of treatment in patients with endocrine-resistant, hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast...
The 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting featured thousands of abstracts. In addition to our in-depth coverage of pivotal research from the meeting, The ASCO Post highlights the following studies of novel therapies for gastrointestinal cancers. Addition of Anti-TIGIT Agent in Unresectable Liver Cancer In the...
Targeted treatment with the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor erdafitinib significantly improved overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rates compared with investigator’s choice of chemotherapy in patients with advanced urothelial cancers and FGFR2/3...
The 6-year follow-up of a landmark study has revealed significant treatment-free remissions and safety findings in elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and coexisting medical conditions.1 Long-term results of the CLL14 trial, presented during the European Hematology Association...
On July 20, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved quizartinib (Vanflyta) with standard cytarabine and anthracycline induction and cytarabine consolidation, and as maintenance monotherapy following consolidation chemotherapy, for the treatment of adults with newly diagnosed acute...
Nabil F. Saba, MD, FACP, Professor and Vice Chair of Hematology and Medical Oncology, the Lynne and Howard Halpern Chair in Head and Neck Cancer Research, and Director of the HNCA Medical Oncology Program at the Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, was invited to discuss the...
In the final overall survival analysis of the phase III JUPITER-02 trial, first-line treatment with toripalimab plus gemcitabine and cisplatin resulted in a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival and progression-free survival vs chemotherapy alone in...
“Triple-negative breast cancer remains the most challenging subtype to treat because of its aggressive phenotype and limited treatment options,” stated Erica Michelle Stringer-Reasor, MD, who spoke at an education session on current approaches to treatment and future directions during the 2023 ASCO ...
Recent improvements in overall and progression-free survival for patients with HER2-positive and estrogen receptor–positive breast cancers have not come at the expense of quality of life or symptom management, according to a pair of studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology...
Encouraging outcomes were achieved in patients with BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer who received neoadjuvant treatment with olaparib in a feasibility study led by Shannon N. Westin, MD, MPH, Professor in the Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine at The University of Texas MD...
A combination of the pancreatic cancer vaccine GVAX, the immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab, and the anti-CD137 agonist antibody urelemab may be safe and increase the amount of immune T cells in the tumors of patients with operable pancreatic cancer when given 2 weeks prior to surgical tumor...
Barbara Burtness, MD, the Anthony N. Brady Professor of Medicine and Chief Translational Research Officer at Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, featured the CONTINUUM study at the head and neck cancer session on Highlights of the Day during the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting. She noted the study’s premise...
The addition of the PD-1 inhibitor sintilimab to standard induction chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy resulted in a significant improvement in 3-year event-free survival, a manageable safety profile, and comparable quality of life in high-risk, locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma vs standard ...
The phase II PHERGain trial, which employed a response-adapted strategy in the treatment of early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer, has shown promising results for the selective use of HER2 blockade and de-escalation of chemotherapy.1 Nearly all patients assigned to skip chemotherapy prior to...
Guest Editor’s Note: Psychological distress is highly prevalent in women diagnosed with premenopausal breast cancer and has a significant negative impact on their quality of life. Thus, effective strategies are urgently needed to reduce the symptom burden. In this installment of The ASCO Post’s...
Jennifer A. Ligibel, MD, FASCO, Director of the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and colleagues conducted a randomized study to evaluate the impact of a telephone-based ...