Lisa Astor is the Associate Editorial Director for Targeted Oncology. Astor received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from New York University.
Early Data From DREAMM-2 Trial Promising for Belantamab Mafodotin in Relapsed Multiple Myeloma
August 23rd 2019Belantamab mafodotin, an investigational antibody–drug conjugate, demonstrated a clinically meaningful overall response rate among patients with relapsed multiple myeloma in early results from the DREAMM-2 trial, according to a press release from GlaxoSmithKline. This met the primary endpoint of the pivotal phase II trial.
Selinexor Induces Meaningful Survival in Heavily Pretreated Multiple Myeloma in STORM Trial
August 22nd 2019Selinexor plus dexamethasone induced objective responses and a significant overall survival among heavily pretreated patients with multiple myeloma, according to results from the phase IIb STORM trial published in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine.</em>
OS Results Fall Flat With Durvalumab/Tremelimumab Combo in NEPTUNE Trial
August 21st 2019The combination of durvalumab and tremelimumab did not meet its primary overall survival endpoint compared with platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with previously untreated stage IV non–small cell lung cancer and a high tumor mutational burden, according to final OS results from the phase III NEPTUNE trial.
Triplet Combination With Vorinostat Shows High Response Rate in Frontline MCL
August 20th 2019A combination of vorinostat, cladribine, and rituximab demonstrated high, durable rates of complete response in patients with previously untreated mantle cell lymphoma, according to the results of a phase I/II trial of the triplet regimen in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.<br />
FDA Approves Fedratinib for the Treatment of Primary/Secondary Myelofibrosis
August 16th 2019The FDA has approved the treatment of fedratinib for the treatment of adult patients with intermediate-2 or high-risk primary or secondary myelofibrosis, including post-polycythemia vera or post-essential thrombocythemia myelofibrosis.
FDA Approves Entrectinib for ROS1+ NSCLC and NTRK+ Solid Tumors
August 16th 2019The FDA has approved entrectinib for the treatment of adult patients with <em>ROS1</em>-positive metastatic non–small cell lung cancer. An accelerated approval was also granted to entrectinib for the treatment of adult and adolescent patients with solid tumors harboring an <em>NTRK </em>gene fusion and who have no alternative, effective therapies available.
Molecular Subtypes of Merkel Cell Carcinoma Identified in Large Genomic Study
August 14th 2019In the largest genomic study of Merkel cell carcinoma tumors to date, investigators identified 2 distinct molecular subgroups, an ultraviolet light–driven subtype and a viral-driven subtype, which matched with tumor mutational burden classifications.
FDA Grants Breakthrough Designation to Acalabrutinib Monotherapy for CLL
August 14th 2019The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to acalabrutinib monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The breakthrough designation was given based on the results of interim analyses from 2 phase III trials: ELEVATE-TN and ASCEND.
Ripretinib Demonstrates Benefit in Patients With Previously Treated GIST
August 13th 2019Ripretinib demonstrated a significantly improved progression-free survival compared with placebo in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors being treated in the fourth-line setting or beyond, according to topline results from the phase III INVICTUS trial. An NDA for ripretinib is planned for the first quarter of 2020.
Vicinium Shows Encouraging CR Rate in High-Risk NMIBC Trial, Moving Towards BLA Submission
August 9th 2019Vicinium has demonstrated positive 12-month complete response rate findings in the VISTA trial of patients with high-risk patients with non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer who were unresponsive to bacillus Calmette-Guérin treatment, according to updated preliminary findings from the phase III clinical trial.
Osimertinib Benefit Maintained in New OS Findings from FLAURA Trial in EGFR+ NSCLC
August 9th 2019Osimertinib has demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival compared with standard first-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with newly diagnosed <em>EGFR</em>-mutated non–small cell lung cancer, according to updated findings from the phase III FLAURA trial.
OS Endpoint Not Met in Pivotal Phase III CRC IMPALA Trial
August 9th 2019Overall survival was not improved with the use of lefitolimod as a maintenance therapy compared with local standard-of-care therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, according to early findings from the pivotal phase III IMPALA trial. The median OS was 22.0 months with lefitolimod compared with 21.9 months with standard of care, which failed to meet the primary endpoint of the trial.
FDA Grants Priority Review to Avapritinib in PDGFRA+ and Fourth-Line GIST
August 7th 2019The FDA has granted a priority review to a New Drug Application for avapritinib as a treatment for adult patients with <em>PDGFRA</em> exon 18–mutant gastrointestinal stromal tumors, regardless of prior therapy, and in the fourth-line setting for GIST.
Olaparib Demonstrates Significant PFS Benefit in Phase III mCRPC Trial
August 7th 2019Olaparib demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in radiographic progression-free survival compared with enzalutamide or abiraterone acetate in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have a homologous recombination repair mutation and have progressed on prior treatment with new hormonal anticancer treatments, according to early findings from the PROfound trial.
Real-World Data Show Long-Term Survival With Sequential Afatinib and Osimertinib in EGFR+ NSCLC
August 2nd 2019Sequential afatinib followed by osimertinib has demonstrated a long-term overall survival of close to 4 years in patients with non–small cell lung cancer who have <em>EGFR </em>deletion 19–positive tumors and acquired T790M mutations, according to interim results released from the real-world GioTag study.
OS Benefit With Ribociclib Seen Across HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer Settings
August 1st 2019Ribociclib in combination with fulvestrant demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer, according to interim results from the phase III MONALEESA-3 trial.
Survival Benefit With Nivolumab Still Seen at 5 Years in Melanoma, RCC, and NSCLC
July 31st 2019Nivolumab demonstrated long-term survival benefit in heavily pretreated patients with advanced melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, and non–small cell lung cancer, according to an analysis of 5-year results from the CA209-003 trial. The analysis also identified favorable and adverse factors associated with survival that could inform future use of nivolumab.
FDA Approves Pembrolizumab for PD-L1+ Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
July 31st 2019The FDA has approved pembrolizumab monotherapy as a treatment for patients with recurrent, locally advanced, or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma whose tumors express PD-L1, as determined by an FDA-approved test, and who have disease progression after ≥1 prior systemic regimen.
Abemaciclib/Fulvestrant Demonstrates OS Benefit in HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer
July 30th 2019The combination of abemaciclib and fulvestrant has demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival compared with fulvestrant and placebo in women with HR–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer who have previously received endocrine therapy, according to updated interim results from the phase III MONARCH 2 trial.
Pembrolizumab and Chemotherapy Met Primary Endpoint in Phase III TNBC Trial
July 29th 2019The combination of pembrolizumab with chemotherapy demonstrated a benefit in terms of pathological complete response when used as neoadjuvant therapy compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with triple-negative breast cancer, according to interim results of the pivotal phase III KEYNOTE-522 trial.
Update on Frontline Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Combo Demonstrates Positive OS Results in PD-L1+ NSCLC
July 26th 2019Nivolumab in combination with a low dose of ipilimumab demonstrated an improvement in overall survival compared with chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed non–small cell lung cancer whose tumors have PD-L1 expression ≥1%.
Significant Impact of PACIFIC Trial in Locally Advanced NSCLC Still Seen at 3-Year Follow-Up
July 23rd 2019The results of the phase III PACIFIC trial made a significant impact on the treat­ment landscape for locally advanced non−small cell lung cancer when both the progression-free survival and overall survival results were announced separately.
FDA Approves Label Update for Durvalumab in Stage III NSCLC to Include OS Data
July 22nd 2019The FDA has approved an update to the durvalumab label for patients with unresectable, stage III non–small cell lung cancer whose disease has not progressed following concurrent platinum-based chemoradiotherapy in order to include overall survival data from the phase III PACIFIC trial.<br />