News

Cemiplimab has been approved by the European Commission for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic or locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma who are not candidates for curative surgery or curative radiation.

The development of an immune-related adverse event was associated with improved patient response in an FDA analysis of patients with advanced urothelial cancer treated with a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Shota Fukuoka, MD, PhD, of the Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan, commented on the results of the study and the future plans to expand the research with a larger cohort.

The FDA approved a supplemental New Drug Application for avatrombopag as a treatment for adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia who have had an insufficient response to a prior therapy.

A supplemental New Drug Application has been submitted to the FDA for the potential approval of neratinib in combination with capecitabine for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who have progressed on 2 or more prior HER2-targeted treatments.

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&rsquo;s recent &ldquo;Immuno-Oncology: A Future Look&rdquo; event at the New York Academy of Sciences, which also recognized and celebrated the seventh annual Cancer Immunotherapy Month.

In June 2019, the FDA approved a number of agents many fields, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, small cell lung cancer, gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, and multiple myeloma. The FDA also approved the fifth biosimilar for trastuzumab and another biosimilar for&nbsp;bevacizumab across several indications.

The Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute will be welcoming Susmitha Apuri, MD, into its ranks starting July 1, 2019.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology, </em>Richard T. Penson, MD,&nbsp;discussed the significance of the findings recently presented for the SOLO3 trial in patients with platinum-sensitive, relapsed <em>BRCA-</em>positive ovarian cancer.

During a recent <em>Targeted Oncology </em>case-based peer perspectives live dinner event, Massimo Cristofanilli, MD, explained the options for treatment based on the case scenario of a woman with ER-positive breast cancer.<br /> &nbsp;

An updated systematic review and new meta-analysis of the incidence of subsequent malignant neoplasms following thyroid cancer has found that there was no significant increased relative risk of breast cancer, salivary cancer, or combined hematologic malignancies based on whether or not patients had received radioactive iodine.

The FDA has approved Zirabev, a biosimilar to bevacizumab for 5 indications.&nbsp;Zirabev has been approved for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer; unresectable, locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic non-squamous non&ndash;small cell lung cancer; recurrent glioblastoma; metastatic renal cell carcinoma; and persistent, recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer.

The frontline combination of daratumumab with lenalidomide and dexamethasone has been approved by the FDA&nbsp;for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplantation.

Lenalidomide plus standard R-CHOP immunochemotherapy may help select patients with activated B-cell-type diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who have a poor prognosis, based on data from the phase III ROBUST trial presented at the 2019 International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma.<br /> &nbsp;

Two community oncology and hematology practices will be joining the American Oncology Network, LLC in June and July: Cancer Blood Specialists of Louisville and Hope Cancer Care of Nevada.

Frontline durvalumab led to a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival (OS) in combination with etoposide and platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, according to the results of a planned interim analysis of the phase III CASPIAN trial.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Andrew Turk, MD, discussed his presentation at the&nbsp;<em>3rd Annual</em> Congress on Oncology and Pathology as well as the current state of molecular testing for thyroid cancer and the future of testing and diagnostics.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology,&nbsp;</em>Marina Kremyanskaya, MD, PhD, discussed the results from the phase II trial investigating the effects of CPI-0610 with or without ruxolitinib in patients with MF. Overall, the drug was well tolerated and effective in patients who had previously progressed on ruxolitinib or received inadequate responses to treatment.

The RET inhibitor BLU-667 induced durable responses in patients with advanced, <em>RET-</em>altered medullary thyroid cancer and papillary thyroid cancer, according to updated results of the ARROW trial focused on the patients with thyroid cancer that were presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.

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

Mitchell Smith, MD, PhD,&nbsp;discussed the most recent research and agents under investigation for the treatment of indolent lymphomas. He also highlighted how conversations transpire when discussing the watch-and-wait approach with his asymptomatic patients.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology, </em>Shirish Gadgeel, MBBS, of the Department of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology Division, University of Michigan, discussed recent study updates from the phase III KEYNOTE-189 trial and potential implications for the combination on clinical practice.

During a recent&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology&nbsp;</em>live case-based peer perspectives presentation, Mary Jo J. Fidler, MD, reviewed treatment options in the first and second line based on a case study of a patient with NSCLC who experiences rapid progression on her first-line regimen.&nbsp;

Ibrutinib as a maintenance therapy for patients with&nbsp;mantle cell lymphoma who respond to frontline induction therapy with or without autologous stem cell transplant appeared safe and feasible, according to the results of a recent study presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.

The phase III IMspire170 trial failed to meet its primary endpoint according to topline results from the study. The combination of atezolizumab and cobimetinib did not improve progression-free survival compared with pembrolizumab in patients with previously untreated<em> BRAF&nbsp;</em>V600 wild-type melanoma.

Lisocabtagene maraleucel demonstrated a promising response rate and an acceptable toxicity profile in the TRANSCEND NHL 001 trial in a cohort of patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma.<br /> &nbsp;

A prefilled syringe of&nbsp;lanreotide has been approved by the FDA to&nbsp;enable healthcare providers to administer the injection easier to adults with unresectable, well or moderately differentiated, locally advanced or metastatic gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

A priority review designation has been granted by the FDA to a supplemental&nbsp;biologics license application for niraparib as a treatment for patients with advanced ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who have been treated with &ge;3 prior chemotherapy regimens, and who have either a&nbsp;<em>BRCA&nbsp;</em>mutation or have homologous recombination deficiency and progressed &gt;6 months after their last platinum-based regimen.

The FDA has lifted a partial clinical hold placed on the phase III CANOVA trial, which is investigating the combination of venetoclax and dexamethasone in comparison with pomalidomide and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma and a transformation (11;14) abnormality.

Topline results from the&nbsp;phase III CheckMate 459 trial revealed that the trial did not meet its primary endpoint of improved overall survival with nivolumab as compared with sorafenib for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed, unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.&nbsp;