Darcy Lewis

Following recent FDA clearances, using scalp cooling to limit alopecia in patients receiving chemotherapy is closer to becoming a more common practice, according to a presentation at the 2018 Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium.

Newer combination regimens are about to make their way into the treatment paradigm in RCC, with promising data fueling excitement for these approaching regimens. Each of the combinations approaching addition to the treatment paradigm for patients with RCC incorporates immunotherapy, demonstrating the growing role of this modality.

The combination regimen of ibrutinib, fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and obinutuzumab achieved a high rate of minimal residual disease-negative status in bone marrow as a first-line treatment in patients with <em>IGHV</em>-mutated chronic lymphocytic leukemia

The BTK inhibitor ibrutinib continued to demonstrate sustained progression-free survival and overall survival in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, regardless of patients&rsquo; high-risk cytogenetic status.

The experimental AKT inhibitor ipatasertib in combination with paclitaxel improved progression-free survival (PFS) as a first-line therapy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer when compared with paclitaxel alone, according to initial findings of the LOTUS trial presented during the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.<br /> &nbsp;

Dabrafenib (Tafinlar) plus trametinib (Mekinist) achieved an intracranial response (IR) rate of 58% in melanoma that has metastasized to the brain. The median duration of overall response (OR) of 6.5 months was generally shorter than that observed in melanoma patients without brain metastases.&nbsp;These initial findings from the phase II COMBI-MB trial were presented during an oral abstract session at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) or ipilimumab alone are associated with a high incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity, but most adverse events (AEs) are effectively managed using immunomodulators, which do not appear to inhibit tumor response. Additionally, nivolumab plus ipilimumab significantly improved overall survival (OS) and objective response rate (ORR) versus ipilimumab alone in patients with untreated advanced melanoma.

The PARP inhibitor niraparib (Zejula) provided significant benefits in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer who had a partial response, with similar treatment effects in patients with or without germline <em>BRCA</em> mutations, according to a post-hoc analysis of data from the ENGOT-OV16/NOVA trial presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Neoadjuvant and adjuvant dabrafenib (Tafinlar) plus trametinib (Mekinist) increased the overall response rate (ORR) to 85% in patients with high-risk resectable <em>BRAF</em>-mutant metastatic melanoma. And interestingly, the pathologic complete response (pCR) rate with the combination was 58%, as demonstrated in findings presented during the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.

The PARP inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) provides clinically significant, long-term treatment benefits in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed serous ovarian cancer, according to the protocol-specified final overall survival (OS) analysis of the phase II Study 19 trial presented during the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.

The current treatment landscape for relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma is so promising, oncologists should not hesitate to consider integrating novel therapies into multiple myeloma management, Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, said.

Brad S. Kahl, MD, sheds light on the distinctive clinical features of MCL.

Richard R. Furman, MD emphasizes that physicians should follow their best independent judgment regarding therapy selection in CLL, regardless of FDA approval.

With a number of effective targeted therapies now available for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms and chronic myeloid leukemia, patient selection for transplantation should rely heavily on prognostic scoring.

When it comes to managing high-risk patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET) or polycythemia vera (PV), John Mascarenhas, MD, starts with risk stratification.

According to Ruben A. Mesa, MD, developing a treatment plan for myelofibrosis (MF) patients who fail ruxolitinib requires an understanding of both current treatment options and those that are expected to become available within the next several years.

An&nbsp;increasing number of investigators are focused&nbsp;on developing therapies specifically for cholangiocarcinoma as rates for the disease are rising.&nbsp;

A phase Ib expansion cohort of the Keynote-029 trial found that a combined regimen of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) at the standard dose (2 mg/kg) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) at a reduced dose (1 mg/kg) was safe and effective for patients with advanced melanoma.

The advent of targeted inhibitors that work on the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) pathway may alter the disease course and outcomes in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, suggests data from a four-center retrospective study. Lead investigator Apurva Jain, MD, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center presented the findings at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Contrary to investigators' expectations, an observational study found that obesity is associated with increased progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic melanoma who were treated with a combination of dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist). These results were presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Infusion with 19-28z chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) modified T-cells led to complete response (CR) rates of 77% to 90% and minimal residual disease (MRD)-CR rates of 68% to 70% in adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (B-ALL).

The PARP inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) significantly increased overall survival (OS) in women with platinum-sensitive relapsed serous ovarian cancer when given as maintenance monotherapy. These interim results, a third updated survival analysis, come from an extension of the Study 19 phase II trial and were presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.

The combination of cobimetinib (Cotellic) and atezolizumab (Tecentriq) is safe and clinically active in advanced colorectal cancer and resulted in a higher clinical response rate in patients with microsatellite stable (MSS) colorectal cancer patients than either agent alone.

Pooled analysis, presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting, showed the safety profile of dabrafenib and trametinib is consistent with reports from three individual studies.

Treatment with dabrafenib (Tafinlar) plus trametinib (Mekinist) resulted in a complete response in 9 of 19 patients with stage IIIb/c BRAF V600 melanoma, according to results from a phase II trial presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Mutations in MYD88 and CXCR4 can effectively be used to tailor treatment for patients with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia (WM), according to one medical professional.

John C. Byrd, MD, on Hematologic Malignancies in Chicago about novel agents in treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia, specifically about the emergence of new targeted therapies, including ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and idelalisib (Zydelig) and what clinicians should know about them.

When John P. Leonard, MD, spoke at the American Society of Hematology inaugural meeting on Hematologic Malignancies about mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), he balanced his enthusiasm about the emerging benefits that tumor profiling brings to this disease with an acknowledgement that many important questions about mantle cell lymphoma remain unanswered.

Janice M. Mehnert, MD, of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, gave a presentation at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting entitled, “Should Comorbidities Be an Automatic Exclusion for Clinical Trials?”

In a single-institution randomized prospective controlled trial of women with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer, 52.6% of patients in the PDS study arm had major complications with an MSKCC score of 3 or greater.