IMMUNOTHERAPY

AstraZeneca’s MedImmune has entered into a licensing agreement and collaboration with Inovio Pharmaceuticals, whereby MedImmune was given exclusive rights to Inovio’s INO-3112 immunotherapy.

The review period for frontline nivolumab (Opdivo), in patients who have advanced melanoma, recently received an extension of three months by the FDA, in order to allow ample time for review of the additional data submitted by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS)

Catherine Alix-Panabières, PhD, and her colleagues, demonstrate the expression of PD-L1 on CTCs in patients with HR+, HER2- metastatic breast cancer.

On November 7, 2015, some of the leading experts in oncology, together with other oncology healthcare professionals involved in the treatment and management of patients with lung cancer, will gather in Manhattan for the 10th Annual New York Lung Cancer Symposium®.

Almost 10 years following a study that proved intraperitoneal (IP), or abdominal, chemotherapy, along with intravenous (IV) therapy, may add 16 months or more to the lives of women with ovarian cancer, less than half of these patients at US hospitals receive this type of treatment

Updated findings from the KEYNOTE-012 trial have demonstrated promising antitumor activity with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in patients with metastatic gastric cancer.

Matthew Cooperberg, MD, genitourinary cancer specialist, University of California San Francisco, discusses the impact of immunotherapy on the treatment of prostate cancer. Cooperberg believes immunotherapy treatment should be used earlier in the course of the disease.

Precision medicine with TKIs and immunotherapies is revolutionizing the treatment of patients with NSCLC. Paul A. Bunn, Jr, MD, head of the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado, discussed the current translational advances with these agents in a discussion held at this year’s International Lung Cancer Congress.

Paul A. Bunn, Jr., MD, distinguished professor, Division of Medical Oncology, University of Colorado, James Dudley Chair in Lung Cancer Research, Lung Cancer: Giant of Cancer Care, discusses immunotherapy in lung cancer.

The biomarker E2F4 predicts survival in breast cancer, and an article recently published in the journal Molecular Cancer Research indicates that E2F4 may also predict progression and immunotherapy efficacy in bladder cancer.

Tanguy Seiwert, MD, assistant professor of medicine, associate leader, Head and Neck Cancer Program, University of Chicago, discusses the significance of pembrolizumab in head and neck cancer.

Immunotherapies (immune checkpoint inhibitors) and targeted therapies (tyrosine kinase inhibitors [TKIs] that target specific mutations in one or more oncogenic drivers) represent two of the most researched types of therapy under investigation for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

An impressive array of newly approved treatments, as well as investigational agents, for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) emerged in the first 6 months of 2015.

Predictive data from two major financial research and consulting firms, UBS and GlobalData, have supported atezolizumab [MPDL3280A] as a major player in the immunotherapy race for bladder cancer.

This review addresses the basics of CAR T-cell design and reviews data from published clinical studies in leukemia.

Anna C. Pavlick, DO, co-director, Melanoma Program, assistant director, Clinical Research Education, associate professor, Departments of Medicine and Dermatology, Langone Medical Center, New York University, discusses the study of vemurafenib combined with a MEK inhibitor.

The PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was recently approved by the European Commission for the treatment of adult patients who have unresectable or metastatic melanoma in the first-line and previously treated settings, based on data from three clinical trials that evaluated the medication in over 1500 patients.

A letter to the editor in the New England Journal of Medicine from notable researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering reported a case of complete remission of metastatic melanoma in a patient treated with single doses of ipiliumab and nivolumab.

Hope S. Rugo, MD, clinical professor, Department of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology), director, Breast Oncology Clinical Trials Program, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, discusses patient selection for premenopausal endocrine therapy.

The anti-PDL1 agent, atezolizumab (MPDL3280A) may effectively shrink tumors in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial bladder cancer in the second-line setting, according to a statement from the immunotherapy’s developer, Genentech.

Data from a phase I/II single-arm trial of the NY-ESO-1 T-Cell Receptor (TCR) therapy, recently published in Nature Medicine, is the first to show feasibility and antitumor responses in patients who have multiple myeloma.

Nivolumab (Opdivo) was recently approved by the European Commission as a treatment for patients who have locally advanced or metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), following prior chemotherapy, based on findings from the phase III Checkmate-017, as well as the phase II Checkmate-063 trials.

An independent panel has halted the phase III CheckMate-025 trial after determining that nivolumab (Opdivo) improved overall survival versus everolimus (Afinitor) in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

The immunotherapy DPX-Survivac has been granted orphan drug designation as treatment ovarian cancer, based on early-phase research showing a robust immune response with the therapy in combination with low-dose cyclophosphamide.

Marc Ernstoff, MD, director of melanoma, Cleveland Clinic, discusses progression-free survival (PFS) and safety in patients with advanced melanoma (MEL) receiving nivolumab (NIVO) combined with ipilimumab (IPI).

Ginseng polysaccharides may affect the balance of T-helper cells in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Mark A. Socinski, MD, professor, Medicine and Cardiothoracic Surgery, director, Lung Cancer Section, Division of Hematology/Oncology, clinical associate director, Lung SPORE, co-director, UPMC Lung Cancer Center of Excellence, co-leader, UPCI Lung Cancer Program, University of Pittsburgh, discusses the adverse events, as well as the overall significance, of nivolumab in patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Trisha Wise-Draper, MD, PhD, assistant professor, University of Cincinnati, discusses the quality of life (QOL) as a predictor of clinical outcome in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC).

Yung-Jue Bang, MD, PhD, professor of medical oncology, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, president, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, discusses the clinical results for the treatment of pembrolizumab in patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Infusions of CTL019, a CAR-modified T-cell therapy against CD19, achieved durable responses and showed an acceptable safety profile in heavily pretreated patients with CD19-positive DLBCL, MCL, and FL.