News

In a roundtable discussion at the 2018 International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference, Nobel Prize Winner James P. Allison, MD, and other experts discussed the research that is still necessary to bring immunotherapy response rates to 100%.

Rami S. Komrokji, MD, reflects on the diverse treatment landscape of AML and touches on the prognostic importance of biomarkers.

Durvalumab (Imfinzi) demonstrated an improvement in overall survival compared with placebo in patients with stage III, unresectable non&ndash;small cell lung cancer who have not progressed following chemoradiotherapy, according to updated findings from the PACIFIC trial recently&nbsp;presented at the 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer and simultaneously published in the <em>New England Journal of Medicine</em>.

The first patient has been dosed in the phase III FIGHT trial investigating bemarituzumab (FPA144) combined with chemotherapy in patients with previously untreated advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer, according to Five Prime Therapeutics, the developer of the isoform-selective FGF receptor 2b antibody.

Mazyar Shadman, MD,&nbsp;discusses the evolution of therapy in CLL and how physicians are working to balance these novel agents with additional modalities.<br /> &nbsp;

Patients with nonanaplastic thyroid cancer who received concurrent chemotherapy with intensity-modulated radiation therapy had superior local progression-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) compared with those who received only IMRT, according to recently published results.

Peter O&rsquo;Donnell, MD,&nbsp;discusses the integration of immunotherapy in the treatment paradigm of advanced bladder cancer and its potential role as combination therapy.

Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa, MD, lead investigator of the PHOCUS study,&nbsp;discusses the potential of the oncolytic virus Pexa-Vec and in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Gardasil 9 (HPV 9-valent Vaccine, Recombinant), a vaccine for the prevention of HPV, has been approved by the FDA for use in males and females aged 9 through 45 years.

A new drug application for selinexor has been granted a priority review by the FDA as a treatment for patients with penta-refractory multiple myeloma, according to Karyopharm Therapeutics, the manufacturer of the agent.

Ehab Atallah, MD,&nbsp;discusses the discontinuation of treatment for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.<br /> &nbsp;

Infographic: Here, we share the top 5 oncology news stories we reported this week, including the most recent FDA updates and expert insights on key developments in the field.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Jay Yang, MD, discussed the evolution of the treatment landscape for AML and the future outlook for these treatments.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Geoffrey Oxnard, MD, discussed the promise of genome-wide sequencing in cfDNA.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, lead investigator Krishnansu S. Tewari, MD, discussed the investigation&nbsp;of cemiplimab in cervical cancer and the promise of immunotherapy.

Patients with mantle cell lymphoma who were treated with the combination of lenalidomide (Revlimid) and rituximab (Rituxan) continued to have durable responses and manageable side effects at 5 years of follow-up.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor-related toxic events led to deaths in 0.3% to 1.3% of patients, a rate that compares favorably with other treatment modalities, according to results from a retrospective analysis of data collected in Vigilyze, the World Health Organization&rsquo;s pharmacovigilance database.

Bruno Sangro, MD,&nbsp;discusses the current landscape for systemic therapies, new directions with immunotherapy, and the need for greater research into combination therapies for HCC.

A look back at all the&nbsp;FDA news&nbsp;that happened in the month of&nbsp;September 2018, including several new approvals, priority reviews, a breakthrough therapy designation, and more, in a variety of cancer types.

The next-generation sequencing assay clonoSEQ has gained FDA approval as a test for minimal residual disease in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or multiple myeloma.

Rucaparib (Rubraca) has received a breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA&nbsp;for single-agent use in adult patients with <em>BRCA1/2</em>-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer following at least 1 androgen receptor&ndash;directed therapy and taxane-based chemotherapy.

Javier A. Pinilla-Ibarz, MD, PhD,&nbsp;discusses updates in the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Rachel Sanborn, MD, recently discussed the treatment options and considerations she makes when treating patients with non&mdash;small cell lung cancer. Sanborn, director of Thoracic Oncology, Providence Cancer Center, explained her treatment decisions based on 2 case scenarios during a <em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives presentation.

Patients with CD30-expressing peripheral T-cell lymphoma who were treated with the combination of brentuximab vedotin and frontline chemotherapy experienced a&nbsp;statistically significant improvement in progression-free and overall survival,&nbsp;according to topline results from the phase III ECHELON-2 trial.

Patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who were treated with second-line regorafenib (Stivarga)&nbsp;experienced a prolonged overall survival benefit, according to a 2-year updated analysis of key findings from the pivotal RESORCE trial.

James P. Allison, PhD, and Tasuku Honjo, MD, PhD, have been awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their pioneering research that led to the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of cancer. The award was announced in a statement from the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet on Monday.

Second-line treatment with the combination of lurbinectedin (Zepsyre; PM1183) and doxorubicin&nbsp;demonstrated significant clinical activity in patients with small cell lung cancer, especially when excluding refractory patients, according to findings presented&nbsp;at the 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Toronto, Canada.

Philip Bierman, MD,&nbsp;discusses the current landscape of central nervous system involvement in aggressive lymphoma and the research that still needs to be conducted.

A once-weekly dosing option&nbsp;of carfilzomib (Kyprolis) has been approved by the FDA for use&nbsp;in combination with dexamethasone for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, Amgen, the manufacturer of the agent, has announced.<br /> &nbsp;

Cemiplimab (Libtayo) has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of&nbsp;patients with metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma or patients with locally advanced CSCC who are not candidates for curative surgery or curative radiation.