News

During a recent&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology&nbsp;</em>live case-based peer perspectives presentation, Corey J. Langer, MD, discussed with a group of physicians the diagnostic workup and the considerations for treatment he makes when seeing a patient with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer in the clinic. Langer, director of thoracic oncology, Abramson Cancer Center, and professor of medicine, Hematology/Oncology Division, University of Pennsylvania, reviewed treatment options based on a case study of a patient with stage III NSCLC.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Noopur Raje, MD, director, Center for Multiple Myeloma, Massachusetts General Hospital, talked through the current options for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma and the clinical trial data that will shape the future of the field.

Overall survival was not improved with the use of lefitolimod as a maintenance therapy compared with local standard-of-care therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, according to early findings from the pivotal phase III IMPALA trial. The median OS was 22.0 months with lefitolimod compared with 21.9 months with standard of care, which failed to meet the primary endpoint of the trial.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Llovet discussed the positive results from the REACH-2 trial and how its results are shaping future combinations therapies for the treatment of patients with advanced HCC.

Tissue-based microsatellite instability testing showed high concordance for detection of cell-free DNA, according to the results of a <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em> analysis.

In patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma, immunotherapy treatment yielded worse overall survival during the first 12 months compared with carboplatin-based chemotherapy, but a superior OS at 36 months. These results from a large, retrospective cohort study were published recently in <em>European Urology</em>.

The FDA has granted a priority review to a New Drug Application for avapritinib as a treatment for adult patients with <em>PDGFRA</em> exon 18&ndash;mutant gastrointestinal stromal tumors, regardless of prior therapy, and in the fourth-line setting for GIST.

Jorge Cortes, MD Cortes discussed frontline treatment options for patients with CML with <em>Targeted Oncology</em> ahead of a debate on optimal frontline regimens for chronic myeloid leukemia at the <em>3rd Annual</em> Live Medical Crossfire: Hematologic Malignancies, hosted by Physicians&rsquo; Education Resource.<br /> &nbsp;

Olaparib demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in radiographic progression-free survival compared with enzalutamide or abiraterone acetate in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have a homologous recombination repair mutation and have progressed on prior treatment with new hormonal anticancer treatments, according to early findings from the PROfound trial.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Chong, a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, discussed the 4-year follow-up data for CAR T cells in patients with DLBCL and FL. She also addressed the challenges that need to be overcome in order to give more patients access to this type of therapy.

Mark J. Ratain, MD&nbsp;provided guidance on the current landscape for research biopsies in clinical trials and talked through the recommendations and how the new ethical framework can improve clinical trials during an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>. He also explained the potential role for liquid biopsies and blood-based biomarker testing within clinical research.

A phase III clinical trial has begun to investigate the use of cemiplimab as an adjuvant treatment after surgery and radiation therapy in patients with high-risk cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.<br /> &nbsp;

Next-generation sequencing has increasingly become more valuable to physicians treating cancer at academic medical centers, but these tests also need to be incorporated more into community oncology practices. A recent study, presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting, demonstrated that the use of these tests has increased in the community setting as the technology, and the use and approval of matched therapies, continues to develop.

The phase III IMvigor130 study showed significant improvement in progression-free survival with the combination of&nbsp;Atezolizumab and chemotherapy in patients with&nbsp;previously untreated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, according to a recent press release from manufacturer, Genentech.

Studies combining KRAS inhibitor AMG 510 several other is the start of a hopeful era for the treatment of&nbsp;KRAS-mutant non&ndash;small cell lung cancer, according to Vassiliki Papadimitrakopoulou, MD, at the 2019 International Lung Cancer Congress.

Pexidartinib for the treatment of&nbsp;symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor in adults has been approved by the FDA for patients with severe morbidity or functional limitations that are not responsive to improvement with surgery.

Sequential afatinib followed by osimertinib has demonstrated a long-term overall survival of close to 4 years in patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer who have <em>EGFR </em>deletion 19&ndash;positive tumors and acquired T790M mutations, according to interim results released from the real-world GioTag study.

In the phase I/II TRANSCEND CLL 004 study, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy lisocabtagene maraleucel led to undetectable minimal residual disease in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Kieron Dunleavy, MD, examined the role of liquid biopsy throughout the course of disease for all lymphomas, and specifically for patients with mantle cell lymphoma, and how its role may change in the future.

The combination of bempegaldesleukin and nivolumab was granted a breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA&nbsp;for the treatment of patients with previously untreated unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

With 5 tyrosine kinase inhibitors approved for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, the next step for research in this treatment paradigm is focused on identifying the appropriate sequence of these agents.

Ribociclib in combination with fulvestrant demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor&ndash;positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer, according to interim results from the phase III MONALEESA-3 trial.

Olaparib improved progression-free survival compared to placebo in patients with&nbsp;<em>BRCA</em>-mutant metastatic pancreatic cancer, based on data from the phase III POLO trial presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Take a look back on the FDA happenings, including approvals, fast track designations, priority reviews, and more from the month of July 2019.

Kieron Dunleavy, MD, discussed current approaches to treating patients with MCL, highlighting peer discussions on the subject and information about the ZUMA-2 trial, in an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>.

Nivolumab demonstrated long-term survival benefit in heavily pretreated patients with advanced melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, and non&ndash;small cell lung cancer, according to an analysis of 5-year results from the CA209-003 trial. The analysis also identified favorable and adverse factors associated with survival that could inform future use of nivolumab.&nbsp;

The FDA has approved pembrolizumab monotherapy as a treatment for patients with recurrent, locally advanced, or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma whose tumors express PD-L1, as determined by an FDA-approved test, and who have disease progression after &ge;1 prior systemic regimen.&nbsp;

Darolutamide has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of patients with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.&nbsp;

During an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, discussed the current role of both liquid biopsy and NGS in breast cancer management, improvements that are needed, and research that shows a promising future.

EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors have remained the frontline standard of care for patients with&nbsp;<em>EGFR-</em>positive non&ndash;small cell lung cancer. The most commonly used EGFR TKI in the frontline setting in the United States is&nbsp;osimertinib, Heather Wakelee, MD, said during a presentation at the 2019 International Lung Cnacer Congress.