News

A 4-week dosing schedule for nivolumab has been approved by the European Commission for the treatment of patients with advanced melanoma and previously treated renal cell carcinoma, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), the manufacturer of the PD-1 inhibitor, has announced.

Based on data from the phase III KEYNOTE-189 trial, frontline pembrolizumab has been granted a priority review by the FDA for use in combination with standard chemotherapy for patients with metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer, according to Merck, the manufacturer of the PD-1 inhibitor. 

A recommendation has been made by the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use to add final overall survival data from the open-label phase III ASPIRE trial to the label for carfilzomib for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Experts are now questioning the previously established methods and strategies for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma while new agents and treatment techniques continue to emerge in the field.

Zhijian “James” Chen, PhD, has proudly been recognized by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health for his breakthrough discovery of the enzyme cyclic GMP-AMP synthase and its corresponding pathway. He will receive the 2018 Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences during the FNIH Award Ceremony to be held on May 16 in Washington, DC.

In a recent phase Ib study, the combination of carboxyamidotriazole orotate (CTO) and temozolomide (Temodar) produced positive safety and efficacy results in patients with glioblastoma (GBM) or anaplastic gliomas, with or without treatment with radiotherapy.

The National Cancer Institute-designated UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center has chosen Primo Nery Lara, Jr., MD, to serve as director. His position will include leading a team of over 300 scientists in their annual research, with an estimated annual research funding of $90 million. The clinical enterprise also serves over 10,000 regional patients annually.

The use of personalized neoantigen vaccines demonstrated promising results in a recent phase I/Ib trial of patients with glioblastoma.

Based on data from the ongoing phase III ADMIRAL study, Astellas Pharma, the manufacturer of&nbsp;gilteritinib, has announced the submission of a new drug application to the FDA seeking approval for the FLT3 inhibitor as a treatment for adult patients with <em>FLT3</em> mutation&ndash;positive relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia.

The immunotherapy agent balixafortide (POL6326) has been granted Fast Track designation by the FDA in combination with eribulin (Halaven) for the treatment of patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who have previously received at least 2 chemotherapeutic regimens in the metastatic setting, according to Polyphor, the manufacturer of the potent and highly selective CXCR4 antagonist.

While relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is considered an aggressive disease, new findings show patients may benefit from adding chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy to their treatment regimen. ZUMA-2, a currently ongoing trial, aims to understand the potential benefits with axicabtagene ciloleucel, an&nbsp;anti-CD19 CAR T-cell product, for&nbsp;patients with relapsed/refractory MCL.

Voxtalisib (XL765) monotherapy induced objective responses in 41.3% of patients with follicular lymphoma, but displayed minimal efficacy in patients with other lymphomas, according to results from a phase II trial of patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia that were recently published in the Lancet Haematology.

Enrollment has been halted by the FDA on clinical trials of&nbsp;tazemetostat in patients with various solid tumors and hematologic malignancies,&nbsp;according to Epizyme, the manufacturer of the EZH2 inhibitor.

The combination of ramucirumab (Cyramza) plus docetaxel led to a positive trend for patients with locally advanced or unresectable metastatic urothelial carcinoma who progressed on platinum-based chemotherapy, however, a statistically significant improvement was not found in overall survival (OS), according to Eli Lilly and Company, the manufacturer of the VEGFR2 inhibitor. &nbsp;

The B-Cell Lymphoma Moon Shot Program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center wants to increase the cure rate of the disease from 30% to 60% within 5 years. In a presentation at the <em>22nd Annual</em> International Congress on Hematologic Malignancies, Michael Wang, MD, detailed results from 3 clinical trials that may help make that 5-year goal into a reality for patients with mantle cell lymphoma.

New agents and combinations have been introduced to the treatment landscape of multiple myeloma, including chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, according to C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD. Regimens of 2- and 3-drugs have also proven successful for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

According to results from an ongoing trial presented at the 2018 AACR Annual Meeting, adding atezolizumab to chemotherapy and an angiogenesis inhibitor led to significant improvement in progression-free survival for patients with untreated advanced nonsquamous non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.

The phase III ADAPT trial investigating&nbsp;rocapuldencel-T in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma has been stopped by Argos Therapeutics after findings of an interim analysis revealed the immunotherapy was unlikely to meet any of the primary endpoints.

Selinexor was recently granted a Fast Track designation by the FDA for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least 3 prior lines of therapy, according to Karyopharm Therapeutics, the manufacturer of the oral SINE compound.

Pembrolizumab produced a &ldquo;modest but durable&rdquo; response in heavily pretreated women with PD-L1&ndash;positive, estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, according to results from the KEYNOTE-028 trial which were recently published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.

Adding everolimus to chemoradiation did not have a significant treatment effect for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, according to results from the phase II NRG Oncology RTOG 0913 trial.

Based on data from the phase I/II CheckMate-032 trial, nivolumab has been granted a priority review by the FDA&nbsp;for the treatment of patients with small cell lung cancer with disease progression following 2 or more lines of therapy,&nbsp;according to Bristol-Myers Squibb, the manufacturer of the PD-1 inhibitor.

Osimertinib (Tagrisso) has been approved by the FDA as a frontline treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer who have tumors harboring EGFR mutations (either&nbsp;exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R substitution mutations). This approval is based off results from a recent phase III study.

The field of mantle cell lymphoma underwent a significant change with the FDA approval of ibrutinib in 2013. Now, the recent approval of&nbsp;acalabrutinib has similarly impacted the treatment landscape, as experts say it could be associated with slightly fewer adverse events than ibrutinib, according to Andre Goy, MD.

Venetoclax induced a response in two-thirds of patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia who had progressed after receiving prior therapy with idelalisib, according to findings of a phase II study recently published in <em>Blood</em>.

After findings from 2 randomized trials and an open-label extenstion study were released, fostamatinib (Tavalisse), anSYK inhibitor, was approved by the FDA as a second-line treatment following insufficient response to a previous therapy&nbsp;for patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia.

Neeraj Agarwal, MD, recently discussed the treatment considerations and decisions he makes when treating patients with renal cell carcinoma. Agarwal, director of the Genitourinary Oncology Program, University of Utah School of Medicine, explained his treatment decisions based on a case scenario during a <em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives presentation.

Ruben A. Mesa, MD, recently discussed the treatment considerations and decisions he makes when treating patients with polycythemia vera. Mesa, director of the University of Texas Health Cancer Center, explained his treatment decisions based on 2 case scenarios during a <em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives presentation.

Irinotecan plus bevacizumab with a fluoropyrimidine proved to be a noninferior treatment option compared to the standard regimens of either mFOLFOX6, CapeOX, or FOLFIRI for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), according to findings from the phase III TRICOLORE trial.<br /> &nbsp;

Based on data from the phase III CheckMate-214 trial, the&nbsp;combination of&nbsp;nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) has been approved by the FDA&nbsp;as a frontline treatment for intermediate- and poor-risk patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.