Lisa Astor

Combining the PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab with the CTLA-4 checkpoint inhibitor ipilimumab led to superior survival rates compared to treatment with nivolumab alone in patients with persistent or recurrent ovarian cancer, according to findings from the phase II NRG-GY003 trial.

The landscape for treatment of gynecologic cancer has changed since 2014, however, better therapeutic strategies and better biomarkers are needed in the realm of gynecologic cancers, Bradley J. Monk, MD, said during a recent webinar about meeting unmet clinical needs in cervical cancer.

Preclinical and phase I proof for CYAD-01 as well as preliminary findings from the ongoing THINK trial were presented at the 2018 American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Annual Meeting.

Mesothelin-targeted chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy has shown early evidence of efficacy in a phase I trial of patients with malignant pleural disease and mesothelioma, non–small cell lung cancer, or breast cancer. Additionally, significant responses were seen in patients who went on to receive subsequent PD-1 checkpoint inhibition treatment.

The first patient has been enrolled in the phase III ATHENA trial looking at rucaparib (Rubraca) in combination with nivolumab (Opdivo) in patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer, according to Clovis Oncology, the company developing rucaparib.

Compared with sorafenib (Nexavar) alone, sorafenib in combination with selective internal radiation therapy did not provide a significant survival improvement for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, according to results from the palliative cohort of the SORAMIC trial presented at the 2018 World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona, Spain. However, overall survival improvements were seen with the combination in select subgroup analyses.

According to Tony S. Mok, MD, first-line treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors for patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancers harboring uncommon driver mutations can be controversial. Instead, there is more evidence supporting the use of TKIs in the second-line for mutations such as <em>ROS1 </em>and <em>BRAF</em>, he explained during a presentation at the <em>19th Annual </em>International Lung Cancer Congress.<br /> &nbsp;

The use of checkpoint inhibition in patients with locally advanced non&ndash;small cell lung cancer in combination with chemoradiation, and specifically durvalumab from the PACIFIC trial, has shown the first significant survival benefits in almost 25 years, according to Corey J. Langer, MD.

In a keynote address by Frances A. Shepherd, MD, FRCPC, OOnt, OC, during the&nbsp;<em>19th Annual </em>International Lung Cancer Congress, Shepherd expressed that <em>EGFR-</em>mutant non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a model for how far the field of lung cancer has progressed in the past decade, thanks in large part to molecular pathologists.&nbsp;

In a presentation during a controversy session at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference, Angelo Di Leo, MD, PhD, explained where genomic signatures have shown the most benefit and potential ways forward to make recurrence scores a truly beneficial marker for clinicians to use.

According to preliminary findings from the phase III PREOPANC-1 trial, preoperative treatment with chemotherapy and radiation improved overall survival for patients with resectable or borderline resectable pancreatic cancer compared to immediate surgery. These data, presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, demonstrated the potential role for neoadjuvant treatment in the pancreatic cancer treatment paradigm.

Adjuvant endocrine therapy alone is sufficient for patients with&nbsp;hormone receptor&ndash;positive, HER2-negative, node-negative early-stage breast cancer who have an intermediate risk of distant recurrence compared with endocrine therapy in combination with chemotherapy. Results of the phase III TAILORx trial presented during the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting showed that adjuvant endocrine therapy achieved noninferiority to chemoendocrine therapy.

Combination taselisib plus fulvestrant demonstrated a modest progression-free survival benefit of 2 months compared with fulvestrant alone for the treatment of patients with estrogen receptor&ndash;positive, <em>PIK3CA</em>-mutant locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

In results of a large randomized trial of patients with head and neck cancer who had undergone radiation therapy, patients who used mobile and sensor technology to track their symptoms demonstrated reduced severity of their symptoms compared with patients who received standard care.

A&nbsp;herpes zoster subunit vaccine effectively prevented episodes of HZ and other related complications among patients who had recently underwent autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant, according to the results of the phase III ZOE-HSCT trial presented at the 2018 BMT Tandem Meetings.

A novel bromodomain and extra terminal protein inhibitor demonstrated promising early activity and a manageable safety profile in the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoma in the results of a first-in-human phase I trial.

To help reduce the chance of drug-induced toxicities and improve patient outcomes, NantOmics has developed a test that utilizes pharmacogenomic screening of patients to identify potential genomic variants that could impact treatment decisions. In results from the NantOmics pharmacogenomics test, more than 7% of patients were determined to have a variant that could potentially alter the course of their treatment.

Although immuno-oncology&nbsp;is increasingly gaining strength within the community setting, familiarity with ever-changing indications, and patient and nonspecialist education are persistent issues for community oncology providers. These are a few of the many barriers currently standing in the way, based on interviews, focus groups, and surveys from 2017.

Patients with oligodendroglioma developed pseudoprogression earlier after treatment with proton therapy compared with after photon therapy, according to the results of a retrospective study comparing the rates of pseudoprogression that occurred in patients with anaplastic gliomas following treatment with different radiation therapy modalities.

Following in the footsteps of pazopanib and olaratumab, many targeted therapies are being studied in patients with soft tissue sarcomas to capitalize on the benefits of targeted therapies in&nbsp;sarcomas. Although chemotherapy-driven approaches remain the standard for treatment of sarcomas, many sensitivities to chemotherapies have appeared in patients with sarcoma subtypes. These patients&nbsp;may benefit from targeted therapy approaches.

Ulixertinib, a novel ERK1/2 inhibitor, demonstrated encouraging antitumor activity in patients with solid tumors harboring mutations in the MAPK/ERK pathway, according to the results of a phase I study published in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.

Enrollment in a phase I/II clinical trial began recently for a study of PT-112 monotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, according a news release from Phosplatin Therapeutics LLC, the company developing the small molecule conjugate.

The day when oncologists can order a Medicare-covered next-generation sequencing diagnostic test may be near at hand, but once this change goes into effect, will oncologists be limited to certain tests, labs, and cancer settings? The answer is unclear.

A novel therapeutic vaccine, TPIV200, is being investigated in a new randomized, multicenter, double-blinded, placebo-controlled phase II clinical trial in patients with triple-negative breast cancer TNBC.

A phase III clinical trial of VAL-083, a first-in-class small molecule chemotherapy agent, has opened for patients with glioblastoma multiforme whose disease has progressed during or after standard treatment with chemoradiation, according to a news release from Atlantic Health System. &nbsp;

A novel circulating tumor cell assay has demonstrated a high accuracy of up to 88% for detecting early-stage colorectal cancer, according to the results of a prospective study from Taiwan released ahead of a presentation at the 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, California. The study marks the first to show a high sensitivity for detecting precancerous lesions, as prior studies tended to identify later-stage CRCs.

Long-term follow-up results of the FOLL05 trial confirm the efficacy of immunochemotherapy regimens for patients with previously untreated advanced-stage follicular lymphoma, according to findings of a post-hoc analysis recently published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology </em>covering a median 7 years of follow-up.

According to the results of the randomized phase III&nbsp;AXEPT clinical trial, a chemotherapy doublet has proved noninferior to treatment with standard FOLFIRI (folinic acid [leucovorin], fluorouracil [5-FU], and irinotecan) for patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).¹

The MET oncogene has become a rapidly rising target for the treatment of patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to Balazs Halmos, MD, MS.

A novel kinase switch control inhibitor, DCC-2618, demonstrated an encouraging disease control rate (DCR) of 76% at 12 weeks in heavily pretreated patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) treated with a daily &ge;100-mg dose, according to findings of a phase I first-in-human, dose-escalation trial.