Samantha Hitchcock

Lenvatinib mesylate, an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor, will continue to be developed and commercialized worldwide by its creator, Japan’s Eisai Co. Ltd, in a strategic collaboration with Merck, which is better known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada. The partnership between the 2 companies was announced on March 7.

New indications were approved by the FDA within the last month, including abemaciclib for HER2-negative breast cancer, durvalumab for non–small cell lung cancer, and abiraterone acetate for castration-sensitive prostate cancer.

Kenneth Aldape, MD, has joined the National Cancer Institute&rsquo;s Center for Cancer Research as chief of the Laboratory of Pathology, an integral component of the research and clinical community at the National Institutes of Health.<br /> &nbsp;

C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, recently shared the treatment considerations and decisions he makes when treating patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma

Although the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer 90101 CREATE study fell short of its primary endpoint, it demonstrated the activity of crizotinib (Xalkori) in patients with advanced or metastatic alveolar soft part sarcoma in key secondary endpoints.

Combining consolidative radioimmunotherapy and sequential maintenance rituximab following chemoimmunotherapy improved progression-free survival at 3 years in patients with previously untreated follicular lymphoma, according to findings from the phase II SWOG S0801 study recently published in <em>The Lancet Hematology</em>.

Priyanka Sharma, MD, has been named vice chair of SWOG&rsquo;s Breast Committee. Formerly known as the Southwest Oncology Group, SWOG is a global cancer research community and 1 of 5 National Cancer Institute (NCI) National Clinical Trials Network-funded groups.

NYU Langone Health&rsquo;s Perlmutter Cancer Center has announced that Paul E. Oberstein, MD, a nationally renowned clinician-scientist, will serve as director of Gastrointestinal (GI) Medical Oncology and assistant director of its recently established Pancreatic Cancer Center.

In a phase Ib/II dose escalation study, rapid and tolerable responses were seen with the combination of selinexor, daratumumab, and low-dose dexamethasone in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma who were previously exposed to immunomodulatory and proteasome inhibitors.<br /> &nbsp;

Arjun Balar, MD, recently shared the treatment considerations and decisions he makes when treating patients with advanced bladder cancer.

Rapid growth continues for research surrounding combination therapies of immunotherapy with chemotherapy for patients with NSCLC.

During their 155th annual meeting, to be help April 29, the National Academy of Science (NAS) will award 19 individuals for their extraordinary scientific achievements in a wide range of fields including the physical, biological, and medical sciences.

Charles J. Ryan, MD, will soon be joining the University of Minnesota Medical School as director of the Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation Division in the Department of Medicine, effective April 2018.

Susan Domchek, MD, discusses the&nbsp;evolving treatment landscape for patients with <em>BRCA&shy;</em>-related,<em> </em>metastatic breast cancer.

Peter Martin, MD, discusses a phase I, open-label, multicenter trial of oral azacitidine (Vidaza) plus R-CHOP in people with high-risk, previously untreated DLBCL, grade 3B follicular lymphoma, or transformed lymphoma.

Internationally recognized cancer researcher Anthony Tolcher, MD, has joined Texas Oncology&rsquo;s San Antonio Medical Center, where he will help develop and expand Texas Oncology&rsquo;s current comprehensive research and clinical trials program.

Mitchell R. Smith, MD, PhD, recently shared both the more and less intensive treatment considerations he makes when treating patients with MCL and the major factors that influence them. Smith explained such considerations based on 2 case scenarios during a <em>Targeted Oncology</em> live case-based peer perspectives presentation.

Howard S. Hochster, MD, an internationally recognized leader in the development of cancer clinical trials, gastrointestinal oncology, and early phase cancer drugs, has joined Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey as associate director for clinical research and chief of gastrointestinal medical oncology.

Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, discusses&nbsp;phase I/II trial of sacituzumab govitecan which showed favorable clinical activity in patients with relapsed or refractory metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who have received at least 2 prior treatment regimens.

Howard A. &ldquo;Skip&rdquo; Burris III, MD, FACP, FASCO, has been elected as president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for the 2019-2020 term, which will begin in June 2019.

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has announced that Alexis A. Thompson, MD, MPH, has taken up the helm as its president for 2018. She will serve for a 1-year term through December 2018.

Richard D. Carvajal, MD,&nbsp;discusses considerations when diagnosing and treating extracutaneous melanomas and the importance of treating such diseases differently than the more commonly seen melanomas.

In a recent open-label phase II study, denosumab (Xgeva) demonstrated favorable results in patients with resectable giant cell tumor of bone (GCTB). More than one-third of the trial patients avoided surgery and nearly half had less morbidity with surgery when treated with denosumab.

Brian Van Tine, MD,&nbsp;discusses the recent discoveries made for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma and the ongoing trials for this patient population. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Eli Lilly and Company has announced that Kimberly L. Blackwell, MD, a pioneer in breast cancer research, will serve as its vice president of early phase development and immuno-oncology. She will begin her new role on March 12, 2018.<br /> &nbsp;

The American Society of Hematology has announced that James R. Downing, MD, of St. Jude Children&rsquo;s Research Hospital will be awarded the 2017 E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize for his discoveries related to the hematopathology and molecular biology of childhood leukemia.

Three members will lead the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Executive Committee with terms beginning after the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting, which will be held December 9 to 12 in Atlanta, Georgia: Stephanie Lee, MD; Agnes Lee, MD; and Joseph Mikhael, MD.