GYNECOLOGIC CANCERS

Relapse-free survival was prolonged in patients with stage III/IV ovarian cancer who received frontline maintenance treatment with Vigil immunotherapy compared with placebo. This was especially true for patients with BRCA1/2 wild-type disease, according to results from the phase II VITAL study.

Frontline niraparib in addition to bevacizumab as maintenance demonstrated impressive clinical activity in patients with advanced ovarian cancer who achieved either a complete or partial response to frontline platinum-based chemotherapy with bevacizumab, according to the phase II OVARIO trial.

Following its success in the phase III PRIMA study, frontline niraparib maintenance demonstrated positive patient-reported outcomes, as well as met biomarker-defined and other secondary endpoints, according to 3 analyses to be reported as part of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology 2020 Annual Meeting.

The FDA has granted Fast Track designation to balstilimab, an investigational anti-PD-1 agent for the treatment of patients with cervical cancer, based on comprehensive data that suggest balstilimab can fill an unmet medical need in the space, Agenus, Inc announced in a press release. In light of the new designation, the company now plans to submit 2 Biologic License Applications in 2020, for this indication and the other for the combination of balstilimab and zalifrelimab in metastatic cervical cancer.

The FDA has accepted and granted a priority review to a supplemental Biologics License Application for pembrolizumab for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with unresectable or metastatic solid tumors with tissue tumor mutational burden-high who have progressed following prior treatment and who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options.

Carrie L. Langstraat, MD, discusses how para-aortic lymph node metastases impact survival outcomes in patients with endometrial cancers.

An association was found between a lower risk of grade 3 or higher chemotherapy toxicity with higher body mass indexes and normal albumin, a protein made in the liver, levels in older adult patients with solid tumors, according to an analysis of a prospective, multicenter study.

A sudden surge in the cases of COVID-19 due to pandemic, along with efforts to contain it, has led to multiple challenges that no country has experienced in the last several decades. The global pandemic from COVID-19 poses a unique set of challenges not only for patients with cancer who need their treatment, but also for caregivers, oncologists, and the overall care team.

Treatment with an investigational targeted anti-cancer gene-therapy agent, VB-111, in addition to paclitaxel met the pre-specified efficacy criterion of an absolute percentage advantage of 10% or higher CA-125 response rate in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, according to results from the planned interim analysis of the phase III OVAL trial.<br /> &nbsp;

Angeles Alvarez Secord, MD, discusses the key takeaways on the role of PARP inhibitors in ovarian cancer, based on data presented for 3 PARP inhibitors, olaparib, rucaparib, and niraparib.

Despite demonstrating improvement in overall survival as treatment of patients with advanced inoperable metastatic colorectal cancer, cetuximab plus chemotherapy led to significantly worse survival for patients with operable colorectal liver metastases in the perioperative setting, according to findings from randomized phase III clinical trial.

In an interview with&nbsp;Targeted Oncology, Kashyap Patel, MD, discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of new precautions in his practice as the number of COVID-19 infected persons rises in the state.<br /> &nbsp;

Patients harboring IDH1/2 muta&shy;tions may receive benefit by the use of PARP inhibitors, with investigators initi&shy;ating clinical trials in patients across multiple different tumor types to determine the efficacy of this strategy.

Treatment with pembrolizumab demonstrated antitumor activity along with tolerable toxicity in patients with 4 different rare and hard-to-treat malignancies, according to results from a phase II study led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers and published in the&nbsp;Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.

GEN-1 immunotherapy demonstrated dose-dependent efficacy results in newly diagnosed patients with advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer when treated in combination with the standard of care, according to results from the OVATION 2 study. Based on positive data in the phase I portion, the study is moving on to phase II with enrollment expected to begin in the second half of the year.

The FDA has granted a Fast Track designation for the evaluation of balstilimab in combination with zalifrelimab for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory metastatic cervical cancer, according to a press release from Agenus, Inc., the developer of balstilimab. Comprehensive data supporting the potential of the combination served as the basis for the designation.

The addition of cediranib to olaparib did not result in improved progression-free survival in comparison with platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer, which was the primary end point of the phase III NRG-GY004 trial, according to a press release from AstraZeneca and Merck.

Acelarin demonstrated clinical activity in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer who were heavily pretreated with at least 3 lines of chemotherapy, according to preliminary results from part 1 of phase II PRO-105 study, announced in a press release from the drug developer, NuCana plc.

The FDA has accepted a Biologics License Application for MYL-1402O, a proposed biosimilar to bevacizumab, according to a press release from co-developers Biocon and Mylan. The BLA is seeking approval for the biosimilar as a treatment for multiple types of cancer and the FDA has set an action date goal of December 27, 2020, for a decision on the BLA.

As the new coronavirus disease 2019 creates problems internationally, health-wise and economically, it is also becoming a cause for concern throughout the oncology community.

In an interview with&nbsp;Targeted Oncology, Alexandra S. Bercow, MD, discussed the results from a retrospective study, which evaluated the role of palliative care in women who died from cervical cancer between 2000 and 2017 at 2 institutions. She also highlighted the benefit of palliative care and why this patient population could benefit more than those with ovarian or endometrial cancers.

In February 2020, the FDA gave indications to multiple therapies meant for treatment of solid tumor and hematologic malignancies. FDA action included 10 Priority Reviews, 2 Breakthrough Therapy designations, and 2 Fast Track designations.

Floor J. Backes, MD, discusses the immunotherapeutic options available for treatment of patients with ovarian cancer.

Updated results from the phase II arm of the DeCidE1 trial of DPX-Survivac demonstrated promising activity and tolerability in patients with heavily pretreated, advanced recurrent ovarian cancer, according to the developer of the agent IMV Inc.

Researchers at the Fox Chase Center have identified MRCKA, a serine/threonine-protein kinase, as a target for treating high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma, the most lethal of gynecologic malignancies, for which few targeted therapies exist. The research was recently published in&nbsp;Science Signaling, Fox Chase announced in a press release.

To help clinicians cope with an increasing number of geriatric patients with cancer, the Association of Community Cancer Centers is addressing this problem with a 2-pronged approach that focuses on the delivery of care and diagnostic assessment.