News

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.

Edward B. Garon, MD,&nbsp;discusses the newer role of immunotherapy in the treatment of patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC with the approval of durvalumab in this setting for patients whose disease has not progressed following concurrent chemoradiation.

Christina S. Baik, MD, MPH,&nbsp;discusses several existing and emerging treatment options for <em>ROS1</em>, <em>BRAF</em>, and <em>NTRK </em>genetic aberrations.

The combination of sorafenib and modified FOLFOX demonstrated encouraging efficacy in a small phase II study, but some patients exhibited moderate hepatoxicity, according to investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center.

During a presentation at the 16th Annual Winter Lung Conference, Gregory J. Riely, MD, PhD, discusses how oncologists can differentiate between the&nbsp;many EGFR TKIs available for patients with&nbsp;<em>EGFR</em>-mutant non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.

The combination of ibrutinib and obinutuzumab has gained FDA approval for the first-line treatment of patients with&nbsp;chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma, based&nbsp;on data from the phase III iLLUMINATE trial.

Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced its decision to withdraw a&nbsp;supplemental biologics license application currently with&nbsp;the FDA seeking frontline approval for the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab for patients with advanced non&ndash;small cell lung cancer with tumor mutational burden &ge;10 mutations per megabase.

Both overall survival and progression-free survival were improved in patients with <em>EGFR</em>-mutant nonsquamous cell lung cancer who were treated with the combination of atezolizumab, bevacizumab, and chemotherapy compared with bevacizumab plus chemotherapy, according to an exploratory analysis of the IMpower150 study.

No new patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma should be treated with the combination of&nbsp;olaratumab plus doxorubicin, according to a statement from the FDA.

Patients who continued receiving osimertinib after their non&ndash;small cell lung cancer had progressed demonstrated a prolonged benefit beyond the initial progression event, according to a retrospective analysis of 118 patients from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute.

A partial clinical hold has been placed on the&nbsp;phase III AIM2CERV trial by the FDA, Advaxis, Inc. has announced.¹ The trial is evaluating the use of the investigational immunotherapy agent axalimogene filolisbac in high-risk locally advanced cervical cancer.

A retrospective analysis of survival data from patients with metastatic non&ndash;small cell lung cancer showed that patients who received treatment at academic centers had better survival rates than those treated at community-based centers, and this disparity was more pronounced when patients were stratified by histology.

Ahmed Omar Kaseb, MD,&nbsp;discusses the role of immunotherapy in the treatment landscape of HCC and the impact it could have in the presurgical setting.

Despite all the positive data associated with PARP inhibitors for the treatment of patients with&nbsp;epithelial ovarian cancer who have known <em>BRCA</em> mutations, these agents are not curing patients, said Leslie M. Randall, MD, MAS, at the 2019 SGO Annual Winter Meeting.

Updated data from the JULIET trial,&nbsp;which were presented at the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting, underscore the impact of&nbsp;tisagenlecleucel for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, said&nbsp;Richard T. Maziarz, MD, the trial&#39;s lead investigator.

Women with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer who fail prior treatment are known to have a poor prognosis, but immunotherapy may extend their survival, according to a presentation by Deanna Teoh, MD, MS, at the 2019 SGO Annual Winter Meeting.

A&nbsp;direct-to-consumer genetic test has been approved by the FDA for providing a&nbsp;risk report on MUTYH-associated polyposis, a hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome, according to&nbsp;23andMe, the personal genetics company that manufactures the test.<br /> &nbsp;

The primary endpoint of overall survival benefit with the combination of&nbsp;olaratumab plus&nbsp;doxorubicin was not met for&nbsp;patients with advanced or metastatic soft tissue sarcoma in the phase III&nbsp;ANNOUNCE clinical trial.

A prospective, observational study recently published in the&nbsp;<em>European Journal of Cancer&nbsp;</em>helped to clarify the prognostic role of&nbsp;<em>TERT&nbsp;</em>promoter mutations among patients with localized thyroid cancer, revealing that&nbsp;<em>TERT&nbsp;</em>mutations were associated with poor outcomes among patients with nonmetastatic disease that do not have an aggressive histology.

Genomic testing can help physicians in the treatment decision process for women with ovarian cancer.&nbsp;As more of these platforms become commercially available, however, physicians must also learn the similarities and differences between each of these tests.

Frontline treatment with ibrutinib plus nab-paclitaxel/gemcitabine did not have a statistically significant benefit in progression-free survival or overall survival compared to placebo plus&nbsp;nab-paclitaxel/gemcitabine in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

FDA approval is being sought for the combination of&nbsp;daratumumab with&nbsp;lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma who are not candidates for high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem-cell transplant. Genmab,&nbsp;which co-develops daratumumab with Janssen Biotech, announced that a&nbsp;supplemental Biologics License Application has been initiated with the FDA.