News

Lead iLLUMINATE study author Carol Moreno, MD, PhD, discusses the safety and efficacy results from the iLLUMINATE trial which led to the FDA approval of ibrutinib plus obinutuzumab in CLL.

Patients with heavily pretreated metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer saw an improvement in progression-free survival with margetuximab combined with chemotherapy compared with trastuzumab and chemotherapy, according to findings from the phase III SOPHIA trial.

The first treatment regimen has been approved by the FDA to treat adult patients with acquired thrombocytic thrombocytopenic purpura: the nanobody caplacizumab-yhdp when given in combination with plasma exchange and immunosuppression.

Over 60 healthcare organizations are pressing the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to revise its current interpretation of the National Coverage Determination, which they say wrongly excludes germline next-generation sequencing-based testing from Medicare coverage for patients with early-stage cancers.<br /> &nbsp;

Rogerio Lilenbaum, MD,&nbsp;highlights the current treatment approaches for patients with <em>EGFR</em>-positive NSCLC and sheds light on the potential for immunotherapy in the space.

Based on findings from the phase III ENLIVEN study, a new drug application for the&nbsp;investigational, small molecule, CSF1R receptor inhibitor pexidartinib has been granted a priority review by the FDA for the treatment of&nbsp;adult patients with symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor.

Pashtoon M. Kasi, MD, MBBS, MS,&nbsp;provides an overview of the potential for liquid biopsies in CRC and advances being made in the treatment landscape. &nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;

A&nbsp;supplemental Biologics License Application for ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1; Kadcyla) has been submitted to the FDA seeking approval for the agent as an adjuvant treatment for patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer who had residual disease following neoadjuvant therapy.

Matthew S. Davids, MD, MMSc, discusses findings from an updated analysis of the&nbsp;phase III DUO study in patients with CLL.

Data from a retrospective study suggests an adjuvant gastrointestinal-based chemotherapy regimen is more beneficial than one that is gynecologic-based in patients with&nbsp;mucinous ovarian cancer, said Katherine C. Kurnit, MD.

In recognition of the many advancements that have been made in the past year toward developing new therapies for patients with difficult-to-treat, rare cancers, ASCO has chosen progress in treating rare cancers as its&nbsp;Advance of the Year.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>&nbsp;during the 2019 SGO Annual Winter Meeting, Shannon Westin, MD, discussed the advances seen with PARP inhibitors in ovarian cancer, novel investigational agents, and the importance of molecular testing.

A look back at all the&nbsp;FDA news&nbsp;in oncology from the month of&nbsp;January 2019, including several new approvals, breakthrough therapy designations, and a partial clinical hold.

A phase Ib dose-finding study has established the maximum safe starting dose of ruxolitinib to be 10 mg twice daily in treating myelofibrosis in patients with low initial platelet counts.

Debu Tripathy, MD,&nbsp;discusses the subgroup analysis from the MONALEESA-7 trial, as well as data from a pooled analysis looking at ribociclib in several clinical trials.

Based on a recommendation from the FDA,&nbsp;Aveo Oncology has decided not to submit a new drug application for&nbsp;tivozanib. The FDA has advised it was not satisfied with&nbsp;the preliminary overall survival data from the phase III TIVO-3 trial of patients with highly refractory, advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Targeted therapy has effectively been established as an option for patients with ovarian cancers. However, beyond PARP inhibition in the <em>BRCA</em>-mutated or homologous recombination deficient population, questions remain about how to best treat these patients,&nbsp;Ramez N. Eskander, MD, said at the 2019 SGO Annual Winter Meeting.

Axel Grothey, MD,&nbsp;discussed the results from a safety lead-in cohort to the BEACON CRC trial and highlighted the significance of these data.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Ian W. Flinn, MD, PhD, discussed the potential impact of duvelisib&nbsp;on patients with CLL. Flinn serves as the lead investigator of the DYNAMO and DUO studies in duvelisib.

In topline findings from the phase III TITAN trial announced today by Janssen, apalutamide in combination with androgen deprivation therapy significantly improved&nbsp;radiographic progression-free survival and overall survival versus placebo in patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer.

Robert Coleman, MD,&nbsp;highlights recent advances made in gynecologic cancers and provide insight into ongoing research to move the needle forward.

Based on data from the&nbsp;phase III KEYNOTE-189 trial, the FDA has expanded the approval for&nbsp;pemetrexed injection in combination with pembrolizumab and platinum-based chemotherapy to include the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic nonsquamous non&ndash;small cell lung cancer without <em>EGFR</em> or <em>ALK</em> alterations.

Jochen H. Lorch, MD,&nbsp;discussed some of the ongoing trials at his institution across various types of thyroid cancer.

The American Society of Hematology has named Roy L. Silverstein, MD, as its 2019 president. He will serve a year-long term through the end of December 2019.

In findings from the&nbsp;phase II next MONARCH 1 trial, single-agent abemaciclib continued to be safe and effective for patients with hormone receptor&ndash;positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer who have progressed on or following endocrine therapy.

Positive RET staining by immunohistochemistry was associated with a low risk of recurrence and death from papillary thyroid cancer, according to a new exploratory analysis published in <em>Cancer Medicine</em> that examined a cohort of 231 patients with long-term follow up at a single institution.

Results of a multi-institutional, retrospective analysis showed that radiotherapy in localized follicular lymphoma resulted in 68.9% of patients having no disease progression at 5 years with fewer than 2% of patients experiencing an in-field relapse, according to a study published in <em>Blood</em>.

A new retrospective analysis of 640 newly diagnosed patients with follicular lymphoma found that patients who had achieved partial remission after 4 or more cycles of bendamustine plus rituximab experienced improved duration of response on maintenance rituximab compared with patients who received no maintenance treatment or who were in complete remission following induction with bendamustine plus rituximab.

During a presentation at the <em>16th Annual </em>Winter Lung Cancer Conference,&nbsp;Julie R. Brahmer, MD, MSc shed light on some of the immunotherapy treatment options that could be entering the lung cancer pipeline over the next 5 years.

According to an exploratory analysis of the GALLIUM trial, obinutuzumab-based chemotherapy resulted in fewer incidences of disease progression compared to rituximab-based chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with advanced follicular lymphoma.