News

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Luis Paz-Ares, MD, PhD, discussed the findings for the CASPIAN trial that were presented at the 2019 ESMO Congress. He also addressed what next steps are necessary to further develop the durvalumab combination in this setting. 

Among patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome who completed myeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the predictive utility of testing circulating tumor DNA was comparable with that of mutation persistence evaluation in matched bone marrow samples, according to a study published recently in Blood.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Tanios Bekaii-Saab, MD, discussed the results of the BACCI and MOUNTAINEER studies, which showed promise for the use of PD-1/PD-L1 combinations over single-agent treatment in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. 

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Maha Hussain, MD, discussed targeting DNA repair defects in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with the PARP inhibitor olaparib in the phase III PROfound trial.

In a presentation at the 2019 ESMO Congress on a case series of 7 pretreated patients with <em>NRG1</em>-positive tumors, Stephen Liu, MD, and colleagues discussed the efficacy of afatinib and explained that afatinib may be a potential treatment option for <em>NRG1</em>-positive tumors across multiple cancer types.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em> during the 2019 SOHO Annual Meeting, Andrew Kuykendall, MD discussed similarities and differences between fedratinib and ruxolitinib and offered advice to community oncologists who are using JAK inhibition for treating patients with myelofibrosis.

A phase III trial, HER2CLIMB-02, has been initiated to investigate the combination of tucatinib and ado-trastuzumab emtansine in patients with locally advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.&nbsp;The results of the trial will support registration for tucatinib in the United States.

Barbara Pro, MD, spoke with a group of physicians during a <em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives discussion about the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma based on the case&nbsp;of a young woman with classic Hodgkin lymphoma.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Negrao, assistant professor, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, reviewed data from the study of response to ICB therapy in patients with oncogene-driven non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Kasi, assistant professor of oncology and senior associate consultant in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Iowa, Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, discussed the current role and utility of liquid biopsy in colorectal cancer, and what he&rsquo;s looking forward to bringing up during the 2019 ISGIO Annual Conference.

The case for the combination of olaparib and durvalumab in patients with metastatic breast cancer and relapsed ovarian cancer with germline&nbsp;BRCA&nbsp;mutations was strengthened based on the updated results from the phase I/II MEDIOLA, which was covered in 2 separate presentations at the 2019 ESMO Congress.

A pivotal multicenter, open-label, randomized phase III trial has been initiated to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the novel mitochondrial inhibitor, devimistat in combination with a modified FOLFIRNOX regimen for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, according to a press release from Rafael Pharmaceuticals.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology&nbsp;</em>at the<em>&nbsp;</em>2019<em>&nbsp;</em>Kidney Cancer Research Summit, McGregor, discussed emerging combinations and novel agents for the treatment of RCC.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, LMichael S. Lee, MD, discussed the early data on the combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in patients with unresectable HCC. He also highlighted the importance of further validation, like the phase III IMbrave150 study, which is comparing the combination to the standard of care.

Multiple presentations at the 2019 ESMO Congress add to the evidence that blood-based biomarkers have predictive utility in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Blood-based next-generation sequencing has also shown clinical utility in aiding treatment decisions for physicians treating this disease.

Following the 2019 ESMO Congress, experts across various fields highlighted some next steps and how these treatment options will improve the treatment landscape for patients with ovarian, lung, breast, GI, or GU cancers. Overall, the abstracts presented at this year&rsquo;s meeting will change the treatment paradigm in a number of patient populations.

The FDA has granted a fast track designation to navicixizumab for the treatment of patients with high-grade ovarian, primary peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancer who have received &ge;3 prior therapies and/or prior bevacizumab.

In the phase III INVICTUS trial, ripretinib, a novel KIT and PDGFRA inhibitor, demonstrated a dramatic improvement in progression-free survival compared with placebo in heavily pretreated patients with heavily advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors, according to data presented at the 2019 ESMO Congress.

In a randomized trial, treatment with MEK inhibitor trametinib showed significant improvement in progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with recurrent, low-grade serous ovarian cancer.<br /> &nbsp;

The multikinase inhibitor entrectinib induced frequent and durable responses, which often deepened over time, in patients with <em>ROS1</em>-positive and&nbsp;<em>NTRK</em>-positive non&ndash;small cell lung cancer, according to an integrated analysis of 3 clinical trials.

In the phase III CASPIAN study, durvalumab added to etoposide and platinum-based chemotherapy delayed the development of new lesions and improved patient-reported outcomes compared to etoposide and platinum-based therapy alone in untreated patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.

The FDA has granted duvelisib with an orphan drug designation for the treatment of patients with T-cell lymphoma, according to a press release from Verastem Oncology, the company developing duvelisib.<br /> &nbsp;

Patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer experienced a 32% reduction in the risk of progression or death with frontline combination veliparib plus carboplatin and paclitaxel followed by veliparib maintenance, according to the data from the phase III VELIA trial presented at the 2019 ESMO Congress, and simultaneously published in the&nbsp;New England Journal of Medicine.

The FDA has granted cobimetinib, a MEK inhibitor, with a breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of adult patients with histiocytic neoplasms who do not harbor a <em>BRAF</em> V600 mutation.

The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to niraparib for the treatment of patients with <em>BRCA1/2</em>-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have previously received taxane chemotherapy and androgen receptor&ndash;targeted therapy.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Gregory Gores, MD explained the role of molecular therapy and the use of genetic testing to guide treatment of iCCA.

The FDA has approved a labeling supplement for neratinib for the extended adjuvant treatment of patients with HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer. The labeling supplement adds safety information based on interim findings from the phase II CONTROL trial, which investigated the use of preventive strategies to reduce the incidence and severity of neratinib-associated diarrhea.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Nicholas J. Vogelzang, MD, FACP, FASCO, explained the need for updates to clinical trial criteria to make checkpoint inhibition more widely available to patients with metastatic bladder cancer.

An open-label phase II trial of regorafenib given continuously at a reduced dose of 100 mg daily to patients with refractory gastrointestinal stromal tumors found that nearly two-thirds of patients achieved disease control lasting for at least 12 weeks.<br /> &nbsp;

Due to treatment benefit observed in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia,&nbsp;2 clinical trials investigating blinatumomab (Blincyto) versus chemotherapy were stopped early, according to the drug developer Amgen.