IMMUNOTHERAPY

The Cancer Research Institute announced 5 US scientists accepted into their inaugural CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR Program for taking on potentially transformative research in cancer immunology. The scientists were announced at the CRI’s recent “Immuno-Oncology: A Future Look” event at the New York Academy of Sciences, which also recognized and celebrated the seventh annual Cancer Immunotherapy Month.

Significant activity was observed when ibrutinib was administered concurrently with CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy compared with separately in patients with high-risk relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia who had progressed on or were intolerant of ibrutinib. Data presented at the 15th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma show a high response rate with this concurrent treatment. 

David Spigel, MD, chief scientific officer, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discussed with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting how the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) is the change agent for helping physicians provide their patients with quality care.&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;

Jae H. Park, MD, discusses the current role and challenges in using CAR T-cell therapy in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia. The 2 challenges now in this area are target selection and patient selection.

Announced at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting, the FDA is rolling out a pilot program that will provide more information and assistance for acquiring expanded access (EA) to investigational therapies for both oncologists and patients. The program is being called Project Facilitate.

Findings from a cohort of the&nbsp;phase II Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) basket study revealed that heavily pretreated patients with&nbsp;metastatic breast cancer and high mutational burden benefited from pembrolizumab monotherapy.&nbsp;

Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, co-physician editor-in-chief, discusses the excitement of immunotherapy at the 2019 AACR Annual Meeting and how this research can inform resarch efforts moving forward.

The FDA has granted P-BCMA-101 with an orphan drug designation for the treatment of patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma.

Findings from ongoing immunotherapy studies are expected to change the treatment paradigm in breast cancer as these agents become available to larger subsets of patients, according to Hope S. Rugo, MD, and Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, PhD, who presented data at the 36th Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference&reg;&nbsp;hosted by Physicians&rsquo; Education Resource&reg;, LLC.

Pembrolizumab&nbsp;(Keytruda) has received approval from the FDA&nbsp;in combination with axitinib (Inlyta) for the frontline treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, based on phase III&nbsp; findings from the KEYNOTE-426 trial.

A discussion between&nbsp;regulators and special interest groups has cooled some of the excitement generated by the emergence of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy for treating hematologic cancers.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors as monotherapy and in combinations regimens are producing promising efficacy data in metastatic head and neck cancers, depite struggles in finding the right treatment settings and patient population subsets.

Frederick L. Locke, MD, discusses how chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies have evolved over the last 30 years of research in the field of hematologic malignancies.

The success of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy observed in hematologic malignancies has not yet translated into the solid tumor setting; however, efforts continue to try to bring this new modality into the treatment paradigm for solid tumors, including pancreatic cancer.&nbsp;

In findings presented during the 2019 AACR Annual Meeting, safety and efficacy was seen with CAR T cells targeting&nbsp;mesothelin-expressing tumors&nbsp;in a preliminary clinical evaluation in patients with malignant pleural disease.

Susan Prockop, MD, discusses an option available for the treatment of central nervous Epstein-Barr virus-positive posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease.<br /> &nbsp;

Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, Co-Physician Editor in Chief, <em>Targeted Therapies in Oncology</em>,<em>&nbsp;</em>discusses<em>&nbsp;</em>the<em>&nbsp;</em>evolving<em>&nbsp;</em>role of immunotherapy in melanoma and non&ndash;small cell lung cancer, where by it is now the dominant therapeutic approach in these diseases in progressively earlier lines of therapy.

Less than 20% of healthcare providers feel very comfortable administering and prescribing appropriate and timely treatment to manage adverse events associated with immuno-oncology therapy, according to an independent needs assessment conducted by the ACCC IO Institute.

Consuming a diet rich in fiber could boost immunotherapy response in select patients with melanoma,&nbsp;according to early research findings.

Michael A. Postow, MD, shares advice to community oncologists on managing the side effects of immunotherapy in patients with melanoma.

To date, there is no national Medicare policy in place to provide coverage for&nbsp;CAR T-cell therapies, which have been proven to be a successful treatment for&nbsp;certain patients with relapsed/refractory cancers. Now, the&nbsp;Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services has proposed to cover CAR T-cell therapies approved by the FDA under&nbsp;&ldquo;Coverage with Evidence Development.&quot;

Lung Cancer

Arjun V. Balar, MD, discusses a few approaches for incorporating immunotherapy treatments into the frontline for patients with bladder cancer.

Ezra Cohen, MD, discusses the advancing field of immunotherapy in the treatment landscape for patients with head and neck cancers. Prior to the use of PD-1/PD-L1 blockades, which have been the most tested immunotherapy in this setting, there were little treatment options.