THE INVESTIGATIONAL agent BLU-285 (avapritinib) has shown significant activity in patients with advanced or aggressive forms of systemic mastocytosis, a rare blood disorder that originates in mast cells, according to the findings of a phase I trial reported at the 2017 American Society of...
IN PREVIOUSLY treated patients with amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis, the chimeric fibril-reactive monoclonal antibody 11-1F4 (CAEL-101) produced organ responses in about two-thirds of patients in a phase Ia/b trial reported at the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting &...
DARATUMUMAB (DARZALEX) may be an effective treatment for systemic amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis, according to phase II studies reported at the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1,2 While the cohorts were small and the arms uncontrolled, the findings...
In a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology by Lee et al, the investigational cell-cycle checkpoint kinase 1 and 2 inhibitor prexasertib produced responses in women with recurrent BRCA wild-type high-grade serous ovarian cancer. In the study, 28 women with measureable disease enrolled...
In an article in The Lancet, Allemani et al reported findings from the CONCORD program for global surveillance of cancer survival trends updated through 2014 (CONCORD-3). Study Details CONCORD-3 includes data on 37.5 million patients diagnosed with cancer between 2000 and 2014 from...
A detailed quality-of-life analysis of the phase III EF-14 trial of tumor-treating fields (Optune) in combination with temozolomide for the treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma was published by Taphoorn et al in JAMA Oncology. This secondary endpoint analysis demonstrated that the...
The ongoing phase III CheckMate-227 study met its coprimary endpoint of progression-free survival with a combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) vs chemotherapy in patients with first-line advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have a high (≥ 10...
IN PATIENTS undergoing treatment of multiple myeloma, the prophylactic use of levofloxacin significantly reduced febrile episodes and deaths, without increasing healthcare-associated infections or carriage of key nosocomial pathogens, in a large multicenter study from the United Kingdom.1 The...
As reported by Hedy L. Kindler, MD, of the University of Chicago, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. The guideline was informed by a systematic literature search and expert panel review ...
In a European phase III trial (ETNA) reported in JAMA Oncology, Gianni et al found no significant difference in pathologic complete response rate with nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) vs paclitaxel followed by an anthracycline regimen in neoadjuvant treatment for HER2-negative breast cancer. Study...
As reported by Gallamini et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the Italian GITIL/FIL HD 0607 trial has shown good long-term outcomes with the switch from ABVD (doxorubicin, vinblastine, vincristine, and dacarbazine) to escalated BEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide,...
In a phase III clinical trial of patients with previously untreated metastatic renal cell cancer combining the immunotherapy atezolizumab (Tecentriq) with the targeted therapy bevacizumab (Avastin) delayed cancer growth by about 3 months longer than sunitinib, another targeted therapy. The benefit...
Researchers have developed a model to predict overall survival for people with advanced urothelial cancers treated with the immune checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab (Tecentriq). The model, which is based on six clinical factors, may help inform treatment decisions for use of atezolizumab in these...
In the phase II Alliance A091401 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, D’Angelo et al found evidence of activity of nivolumab plus ipilimumab in advanced sarcoma. Study Details The study comprised two noncomparative randomized phase II trials in which a total of 85 eligible patients...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dieli-Conwright et al found that an aerobic and resistance intervention reduced metabolic syndrome factors and sarcopenic obesity among sedentary, overweight, or obese women with breast cancer. Study Details In the study, 100 women from...
BASED ON EFFICACY seen in the second-line setting for the treatment of metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, ramucirumab (Cyramza) was evaluated as first-line therapy in the international phase III RAINFALL trial. Although the study met its primary endpoint, with a 25%...
AS REVIEWED in this issue of The ASCO Post, ASCO and Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) have issued an updated guideline on the role of bone-modifying agents in metastatic breast cancer.1 The updated guideline supports a change in clinical practice for our patients with breast cancer and bone metastasis....
CLINICAL TRIALS are an essential research tool to advance medical knowledge and patient care. Traditionally, the majority of pharmaceutical-sponsored clinical trials have been implemented in Western Europe and North America. More recently, however, large pharmaceutical companies have increased...
IN THE FIRST REPORT of the full cohort of CheckMate-142, nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) led to a 1-year overall survival rate of 85% in previously treated patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have DNA mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) or microsatellite instability–high...
On January 26, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved lutetium Lu-177 dotatate (Lutathera) for the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs). The drug is indicated for adult patients with somatostatin receptor–positive GEP-NETs. GEP-NETs can be...
In a single-center phase II study reported in JAMA Oncology, Feng and colleagues found that individualized adaptive stereotactic body radiotherapy achieved high rates of local tumor control with low complication rates in patients with liver tumors and preexisting liver dysfunction. Theodore S....
The phase III ACT IV study has shown no survival benefit of adding rindopepimut, a vaccine targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) deletion mutation EGFRvIII, to temozolomide in patients with newly diagnosed EGFRvIII-positive glioblastoma. These findings were reported in The Lancet...
The use of chemotherapy to treat women with early-stage breast cancer “declined markedly over time,” according to analysis of data from 2,926 women between the ages of 20 and 79. The trends documented “are remarkable for their steepness of decline, independent of clinical factors and despite no...
What I thought after feeling a large, hard lump—similar to the feel of a granola bar—in my left breast was that I probably pulled a muscle while playing with my two young children, ages 7 and 5. Cancer never entered my mind until I asked my husband to feel the lump, and he immediately said, with...
Oncology drug labels, especially those that have been on the market for more than 15 years, may not always be up-to-date. Critical data about safety, efficacy, or prescribing information may be missing. Modernizing the labeling process can correct inaccurate information, add data for indications ...
On June 16, 2017, daratumumab -(Darzalex) was approved for use in combination with pomalidomide (Pomalyst) and dexamethasone for treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies including lenalidomide (Revlimid) and a proteasome inhibitor.1,2 Supporting...
On May 23, 2017, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was granted accelerated approval for treatment of adult and pediatric patients with unresectable or metastatic microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) solid tumors progressing following prior treatment and who have no...
On August 1, 2017, the IDH2 inhibitor enasidenib (Idhifa) was granted regular approval for treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with an isocitrate dehydrogenase-2 (IDH2) mutation as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved...
On July 11, 2017, blinatumomab (Blincyto) was approved for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in adults and children.1,2 Blinatumomab received accelerated approval in December 2014 for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-negative...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has announced the launch of the AACR–Johnson & Johnson Lung Cancer Innovation Science Grants to stimulate research aimed at eradicating this malignancy. This new funding opportunity, which is supported by the Johnson & Johnson Lung...
This past September, Olivier Elemento, PhD, Associate Director of the Institute for Computational Biomedicine and Director of the Laboratory of Cancer Systems Biology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, was named Director of Weill Cornell’s Englander Institute for Precision Medicine. In this...
Now that we have entered 2018, let’s take a moment to reflect on how far we have come and what lies ahead in integrative oncology care. Overview To cope with the physical, emotional, and spiritual effects of cancer, and in search of relief from symptoms that their conventional treatments have not...
Updated results from the ELIANA clinical trial of tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah), formerly CTL019, in relapsed or refractory pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have been published by Maude et al in The New England Journal of Medicine. New data include...
In a single-center phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Kantarjian et al found that the addition of inotuzumab ozogamicin (Besponsa) to low-intensity chemotherapy produced promising outcomes in older patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome–negative acute lymphoblastic ...
On January 30, Bellicum Pharmaceuticals announced it has received notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that U.S. studies of BPX-501—an agent being studied to improve outcomes for patients undergoing stem cell transplant who lack a matched donor—have been placed...
The final overall survival results of the phase III ASPIRE trial indicate significant improvement with carfilzomib (Kyprolis), lenalidomide (Revlimid), and dexamethasone (KRd) vs lenalidomide plus dexamethasone (Rd) in patients who had received one to three prior lines of therapy for multiple...
In a phase IIa multiple-basket study (MyPathway) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hainsworth et al found that agents targeting specific molecular alterations produced responses in tumors outside of current labeling for the agents, with high response rates being observed in some tumor...
As reported by Chi et al in The Lancet Oncology, the addition of abiraterone and prednisone to androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) in the phase III LATITUDE trial was associated with improved patient-reported outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed metastatic castration-naive prostate cancer. The...
A new and unique new way to treat cancer—chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy—is poised to transform the outlook for children and adults with certain otherwise incurable cancers. ASCO named this type of adoptive-cell immunotherapy the Advance of the Year in its annual...
Researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) and GeneDx, a genetic testing company, have identified two new genetic mutations associated with breast cancer: MSH6 and PMS2. The researchers’ study—published by Roberts et al in Genetics in Medicine—suggests that...
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers developed a single blood test that screens for eight common cancer types and also helps identify the location of the cancer. The test, called CancerSEEK, is a unique noninvasive, multianalyte test that simultaneously evaluates levels of eight cancer...
In a Dutch/Belgian phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by van Driel et al, the addition of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy to interval cytoreductive surgery following neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with significantly improved recurrence-free and...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Kenneth Anderson, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on the role of bone-modifying agents in multiple myeloma. The update was informed by an expert panel systematic literature...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Waxman et al found that any-grade and grade ≥ 3 cardiovascular adverse events occurred in 18.1% and 8.2% of patients receiving carfilzomib (Kyprolis) for multiple myeloma in clinical trials. Study Details The study involved...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Motwani et al have developed a predictive model for acute kidney injury following a first course of cisplatin that includes patient age, cisplatin dose, hypertension, and serum albumin level. Study Details The study involved data from 2,118...
On January 19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review to the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for the use of daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with bortezomib (Velcade), melphalan, and prednisone for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed...
ROBERT W. DAY, MD, the longest-serving President and Director of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the leader who brought into being its campus overlooking Seattle’s South Lake Union, died in his Seattle home on January 6, 2018 of lung cancer. He was 87. “It is a tragic loss for all of...
Interim results of the phase III CATNON trial (EORTC study 26053-22054) indicate a survival benefit of adjuvant temozolomide in 1p/19q non-codeleted anaplastic glioma. These findings were reported in The Lancet by Martin J. van den Bent, MD, of the Brain Tumour Centre at Erasmus MC Cancer...
In a Hong Kong study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, K.C. Allen Chan, MBBS, PhD, MRCP, FRCPA, FHKCPath, FHMAM, of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Department of Chemical Pathology, and colleagues found that screening for circulating cell-free Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA is...
THE COMMUNITY ONCOLOGY ALLIANCE (COA) is pleased to announce the election of new members to the Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Additionally, the COA Board has launched and nominated participants for a dedicated standing committee on Government Affairs and Policy as well as Payment...