Dylann Cohn-Emery

In a retrospective, real-world analysis of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma in the United States, investigators observed that lenvatinib alone was effective as first-line treatment.

Response from oncologists and other clinicians who participated in a series of online educational seminars and Twitter polls showed that the conversion of follow-up visits to telemedicine for patients with lung cancer continues to expand, mainly due to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United States House of Representatives introduced the Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act, which would give Medicare beneficiaries access to innovative multi-cancer screening technology by guaranteeing timely Medicare coverage of these tests.

The Association of Community Cancer Centers urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to withdraw from The Most Favored Nation Model Interim Final Rule with Comment Period due to fears of the disproportionate impact the model could have on cancer care.

Adjuvant atezolizumab in patients with high-risk muscle-invasive urothelial cancer with detectable circulating tumor DNA demonstrated more benefit compared with those with MIUC and undetectable ctDNA, according to data from the IMvigor010 trial.

Favorable outcomes after treatment with the HER2-directed lapatinib were indicated by early declines in circulating tumor cell counts in patients with metastatic breast cancer who initially had HER2-negative primary tumors but positive HER2 CTCs, suggesting this could serve as a clinical biomarker.

Luspatercept demonstrated clinical efficacy and a tolerable safety profile in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome/myeloproliferative neoplasms with ring sideroblasts and thrombocytosis who were enrolled in the MEDALIST trial.

Patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma treated with ciltacabtagene autoleucel experienced rapid and clinically meaningful improvements in health-related quality of life and trends suggested that HRQoL benefits may be greater as responses to therapy deepen over time.

The ongoing phase 1/2 DREAMM-6 trial demonstrated clinical activity and a good safety profile with the combination of belantamab mafodotin, bortezomib, and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

In a phase 1 study of patients with relapsed/refractory angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma and peripheral T-cell lymphoma, the anti-inducible T-cell co-stimulator monoclonal antibody MEDI-570 demonstrated activity, durable responses, safety, and tolerability.

Treatment with lurbinectedin and doxorubicin missed the prespecified end point of overall survival in patients with small cell lung cancer who progressed after 1 prior platinum therapy.

The investigational drug Rhenium NanoLiposome demonstrated efficacy in an interim analysis presented at the 2020 Society for Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting for patients with recurrent glioblastoma.

Patients with newly-diagnosed, recurrent, and first-line MGMT-unmethylated glioblastoma multiforme exhibited a promising median progression-free survival and median overall survival in two phase 2 trials of VAL-083 compared with historical data.

Treatment with the investigation agent INBRX-109 induced responses and decreased the tumor burden in a cohort of patients with chondrosarcoma, according to interim efficacy and safety findings a phase 1 trial in patients with chondrosarcoma, Inhibrx, Inc announced in a press release.

A total of 100,000 patients are now enrolled Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation’s Oncology Care Model, as a result of the efforts of The US Oncology Network.

Investigators of the CheckMate 920 trial found no differences in safety signals or responses with modified dosing of nivolumab and ipilimumab compared with the standard dose in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma treated in the frontline.

Significant short-term disruptions in care delivery were observed during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, which may have long-term consequences in morbidity and survival implications for patients who were unable to receive cancer screening, treatment, and surgery throughout this time.

A draft recommendation statement was published by the United States Preventive Services Task Force stating that screening for colorectal cancer should start at the age of 45, according to a press release from the Task Force Bulletin.

Results of a randomized phase 3 trial demonstrated that the 3-month regimen of adjuvant combination therapy caused significantly less grade 2 or more peripheral sensory neuropathy than the 6-month regimen as treatment of patients with high-risk stage II colorectal cancer, while not affecting the 3-year disease-free survival rate, according to a report in the Annals of Oncology.

At the International Kidney Cancer Symposium Virtual Event, the 2019 Nobel Laureate and recipients of the Kidney Cancer Association’s Andrew C. Noviak Award and the Pieter de Mulder Memorial Award will give lectures on key topics in the kidney cancer landscape on November 6 and 7.

OneOncology announced the creation of OneOncology Research Network, which is a national non-exclusive clinical trial site management organization.

In a phase 2 trial, onvansertib, a polo-like kinase 1 inhibitor, combined with abiraterone acetate in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have early abiraterone resistance, demonstrated a decent safety profile across 3 dosing schedules and efficacy in the evaluable arms.

In a presentation at the 2020 Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium, Virginia G. Kaklamani, MD, DSc, reviewed the current genomic tools in the triple negative breast cancer landscape that predict response to targeted treatments.

The creation of the CRISPR-Cas9, a novel gene-editing technology used in oncology and other areas of scientific research was the antecedent for Emmanuelle Charpentier, PhD, and Jennifer A. Doudna, PhD, being awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

At ISGIO 2020, Michael J. Pishvaian, MD, PhD, discussed the importance of using standard-of-care chemotherapy and to test for actionable mutations in patients with pancreatic cancers, which can identify ways to individualize therapy for these patients.

The “switchable” chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy CLBR001 plus SWI019 received a Fast Track designation for patients with B-cell malignancies such as non-Hodgkins lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, according to a press release from Scripps Research.

In a phase 3 trial, atezolizumab demonstrated a significantly longer overall survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer who had high PD-L1 expression regardless of histologic type compared with platinum-based chemotherapy.

Better response in survival were observed in patients with Child-Pugh B cirrhosis, a patient population that has limited treatment options, when given cabozantinib in the phase 3 CELESTIAL study.

Nivolumab monotherapy administered after surgery demonstrated a significant improvement in disease-free survival compared with placebo in patients with high-risk, muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma, for all patients randomized in the phase 3 CheckMate-274 trial and those with PD-L1 ≥1% in their tumors, meeting the primary end point of the study.

Race, socioeconomic status, and care barriers are factors that affect the timing of treatment and treatment duration throughout the care continuum according to a recent study.