Tony Berberabe, MPH

Liquid biopsy results that identify DNA damage repair genes in prostate cancer may be a useful tool in clinical-deci­sion making, espe­cially because these genes can elucidate therapeutic vulnera­bilities that could be exploited by current treatments.

The triplet combination of selinexor, bortezomib, and dexamethasone demonstrated an improved median progression-free survival rate over the standard regimen of bortezomib and dexamethasone in treating patients with multiple myeloma in the BOSTON trial

The FDA has approved a supplemental New Drug Application for neratinib in combination with capecitabine for the treatment of adult patients with advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have previously received 2 or more anti–HER2-based regimens in the metastatic setting, according to a press release issued by the manufacturer Puma Biotechnology, Inc.

The current national Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines for Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment, Version 1.2020, have been expanded to provide information about pancreatic cancer in addition to recommendations regarding genetic testing in patients with breast and ovarian cancer.

PARP inhibitors have the potential to change standards of care in prostate cancer, according to Daniel P. Petrylak, MD, who, along with his colleague, Leonard G. Gomella, MD, will cochair the New York GU: 13th Annual Interdisciplinary Prostate Can­cer Congress® and Other Genitourinary Malignancies conference, held in New York, New York.

As one of the main challenges faced by cli­nicians who treat non small cell lung cancer, drug resistance continues to thwart efforts to mitigate disease progression. This is especially true for the class of drugs called tyrosine kinase inhibitors, which inhibit adenosine triphosphate at the binding site of tyrosine kinase.

A Priority Review supplemental New Drug Application for selinexor, a selective inhibitor of nuclear export, has been accepted for filing by the FDA, according to the manufacturer, Karyopharm Therapeutics, Inc, in a press release. The application seeks accelerated approval from the agency as a treatment for adult patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

The FDA has extended the Prescription Drug User Fee Act date by 3 months for the new drug application of avapritinib from February 14, 2020, to May 14, 2020, the manufacturer, Blueprint Medicines Corporation, announced in a news release. The NDA was seeking accelerated approval for the kinase inhibitor for the treatment of adults with fourth-line gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

Patients with metastatic breast cancer who carry rare mutations identified by circulating tumor DNA responded to matched targeted therapies, according to results of the plasma-MATCH trial presented during the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Patients with metastatic breast cancer who carry rare mutations identified by circulat­ing tumor DNA responded to matched targeted therapies, according to results of the plasmaMATCH trial presented during the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Specifically, patients with HER2 mutations responded to neratinib and patients with AKT1 mutations responded to capivasertib.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Arati Desai, MD, co-director of the University of Pennsylvania Brain Tumor Cancer Program Center, assistant professor of clinical medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, discussed the implications of the STELLAR trial, the role of eflornithine, and how IDH1/2 mutational status affects outcomes in patients with anaplastic astrocytomas.

Integrating a geriatric assessment into the care of older adults who are receiving cancer treatment in communi­ty oncology practices improves patient and caregiver satisfaction and encourages commu­nication about aging-related concerns, accord­ing to results of a clinical trial that enrolled 541 patients with advanced cancer.

The FDA has granted priority review status on a supplemental New Drug Application for rucaparib in advanced prostate cancer, according to a release issued by Clovis Oncology.1 The sNDA seeks approval for rucaparib as monotherapy treatment in patients with a BRCA1/2 mutation resulting in recurrent metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer. The agency has assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act date of May 15, 2020.

The standard of care for some patients with intermediate-stage hepa­tocellular carcinoma may include lenvatinib if investigators further explore results from a proof-of-concept obser­vational study. The recommended treatment for intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma, transarterial chemo­embolization, is unsuitable in patients with high-tumor-burden hepatocellular carcinoma, leaving a signif­icant unmet need in clinical practice for this patient subgroup.

A new drug application has been filed for accelerated approval with the FDA for lurbinectedin in patients with small cell lung cancer who have progressed after prior platinum-containing therapy, according to the manufacturer, PharmaMar.1 The filing was based on results from a phase II basket trial, presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.

New clinical practice guidelines for HCT have been published by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The guidelines provide step-by-step information on best practices in evaluating patients for HCT and managing complications.

Selumetinib, an oral MEK inhibitor, demonstrated clinical benefit without significant toxicity in adult patients affected by symptomatic neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) with associated plexiform neurofibromas (PN), according to Geraldine O’Sullivan Coyne, MD, PhD, in a preconference briefing of the 2019 American Association for Cancer Research–National Cancer Institute–European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, held October 26 to 30, 2019, in Boston, Massachusetts.

A large proportion of children diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 1-related plexiform neurofibromas have no appropriate treatment available to them and represent a significant unmet medical need. To determine demographics, clinical characteristics, and treatments, a cross-sectional analysis of existing data from the Children’s Tumor Foundation registry was undertaken by Jinghua He, PhD, MPH, and colleagues.

Patients with both high-grade and low-grade glioma harboring the <em>BRAF</em> V600E mutation demonstrated positive benefit in response, duration of response, and progression-free survival when given the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib in a phase IIa study.

Adding the PARP inhibitor veliparib to standard therapy for newly diagnosed patients with unmethylated MGMT glioblastoma multiforme was well-tolerated in a phase II trial, according to findings presented at the 24th Annual Meeting and Education Day of the Society of NeuroOncology.

A drug with a greater than 30-year history that was originally investigated as a treatment for trypanosomiasis has garnered interest from investigators seeking a treatment for the rare brain cancer anaplastic astrocytoma.<br /> &nbsp;

This year&rsquo;s Hot Topic Symposium during Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer&rsquo;s 34th Annual Meeting, co-chaired by Jennifer A. Ligibel, MD, and Jennifer Mcquade, MD, MS, MA, focused on modifiable factors that can affect tumor response to treatment.

The advent of immunotherapy has delivered unprecedented and durable anti-tumor responses as well as long-lasting survival benefits in some patients. Yet many clinicians may not be familiar with managing the unique toxicities that accompany these emerging cancer treatments.

Although the use of PD-1 and CTLA-4 pathway blockade in non&ndash;small cell lung cancer has had mixed results in the past, the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab has demonstrated positive benefit in overall survival and adverse event profile compared with chemotherapy. Research suggests that anti&ndash;CTLA-4 helps induce T-cell responses and anti&ndash;PD-1 aids to restore anti-tumor T cell function.

The anti&ndash;CD27 agonist, MK-5890, demonstrated acceptable safety findings when administered as monotherapy and in combination with pembrolizumab in numerous solid tumors, according to findings of an open-label phase I trial presented by Ronnie Shapira-Frommer, MD, head of the Onco-Gynecological Cancer Unit at The Ella Lemelbaum Institute for Immuno-Oncology, Ramat Gan, Israel, during the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer&rsquo;s 34^th Annual Meeting.

Although a vaccine for the human papillomavirus (HPV) is widely available, an average of 34,800 HPV-associated cancers attributable to the virus, including cervical, vaginal, vulva, penile, anal, and oropharynx were reported in the United States from 2012 through 2016, according to data published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

During a <em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives discussion, Ruben A. Mesa, MD, discussed risk assessment and treatment options available based on these assessments for patients with primary myelofibrosis with a group of physicians. Mesa, director of the UT Health San Antonio Cancer Center, explained these treatment options based on a case scenario of a patient with PMF.

The addition of direct oral oral anticoagulants for the management of venous thromboembolism in patients with cancer is the latest change to previous guidelines issued by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The discussion about the pros and cons of a 4-drug regimen for patients with multiple myeloma was highlighted during the 2019 Debates and Didactics in Hematology and Oncology conference.

Michael R. Migden, MD, spoke with a group of physicians during a <em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives discussion about responses in patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma to immunotherapy treatment.