News

According to results from the phase I JAVELIN Solid Tumor study recently published in the Lancet Oncology, the PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab (Bavencio) induced an overall response rate of 17% in patients with platinum-refractory metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

Madappa Kundranda, MD, PhD, recently discussed the cases of 2 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and the treatment considerations and decisions he would make when treating these patients. Dr. Kundranda, Director of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, Phoenix discussed these cases during a <em>Targeted Oncology</em>&nbsp;live case-based peer perspectives dinner.

Benjamin P. Levy, MD, discusses&nbsp;some of the ongoing trials exploring osimertinib in NSCLC and how the FLAURA data have impacted treatment decisions.

According to long-term follow-up results from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project B-31 trial published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>,<em>&nbsp;</em>trastuzumab (Herceptin) did not reduce cardiac function in women with node-positive,&nbsp;HER2+, early-stage breast cancer.

Internationally recognized cancer researcher Anthony Tolcher, MD, has joined Texas Oncology&rsquo;s San Antonio Medical Center, where he will help develop and expand Texas Oncology&rsquo;s current comprehensive research and clinical trials program.

The FDA has issued its approval for overall survival data from the&nbsp;phase III ENDEAVOR trial to be added&nbsp;to the&nbsp;carfilzomib (Kyprolis) label&nbsp;for use in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

Jane N. Winter, MD,&nbsp;discusses recent updates in the field of follicular lymphoma, the importance of finding ways to identify patient populations, and challenges that still lie ahead.

A novel circulating tumor cell assay has demonstrated a high accuracy of up to 88% for detecting early-stage colorectal cancer, according to the results of a prospective study from Taiwan released ahead of a presentation at the 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, California. The study marks the first to show a high sensitivity for detecting precancerous lesions, as prior studies tended to identify later-stage CRCs.

Mitchell R. Smith, MD, PhD, recently shared both the more and less intensive treatment considerations he makes when treating patients with MCL and the major factors that influence them. Smith explained such considerations based on 2 case scenarios during a <em>Targeted Oncology</em> live case-based peer perspectives presentation.

Based on results of the phase II JULIET study,&nbsp;a supplemental biologics license application for the CAR T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) has been granted a priority review by the FDA&nbsp;as a treatment for adult patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who are ineligible for or relapse after autologous stem cell transplant.

Mary C. Beckerle, PhD, has been awarded the Alfred G. Knudson Award in Cancer Genetics by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). She received her award at the NCI&rsquo;s Maryland headquarters before delivering a lecture on tumor biology.

Arsenic trioxide (Trisenox) has been approved by the FDA in&nbsp;combination with the all-trans retinoic acid agent tretinoin for the treatment of adults with newly-diagnosed low-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia with the t(15;17) translocation or <em>PML-RARA</em> gene expression.

Narendranath Epperla, MD,&nbsp;discusses the phase III GALLIUM trial, and the evolving treatment landscape for patients with follicular lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma.

In results from the&nbsp;phase III CROSS trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,&nbsp;</em>neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy failed to lower postoperative health-related quality of life compared with surgery alone for patients with&nbsp;esophageal or junctional cancer.<br /> &nbsp;

Long-term follow-up results of the FOLL05 trial confirm the efficacy of immunochemotherapy regimens for patients with previously untreated advanced-stage follicular lymphoma, according to findings of a post-hoc analysis recently published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology </em>covering a median 7 years of follow-up.

A nationally recognized leader in cancer research, Mark A. Israel, MD, has joined the Israel Cancer Research Fund as national executive director. The ICRF is the largest nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to funding cancer research in Israel at present.

Jesper B. Andersen, MSc, PhD, discusses a study that shows&nbsp;using a single-gene dissection approach in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma can characterize divergent cancer programs and drug vulnerabilities.

The frontline indication for afatinib (Gilotrif) has been expanded by the FDA to include&nbsp;the treatment of patients with metastatic non&ndash;small cell lung cancer whose tumors harbor uncommon <em>EGFR</em> alterations in L861Q, G719X, and/or S768I.

C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, recently shared the treatment considerations and decisions he makes when treating patients with multiple myeloma. Landgren, chief of the Myeloma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in New York, explained his treatment decisions based on 2 case scenarios during a&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>&nbsp;live case-based peer perspectives dinner.

Prachi Mishra, PhD, was awarded the first &ldquo;Colonel (Ret.) David G. McLeod Prostate Cancer Translational Research Fellowship&rdquo; at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences on December 7. She was presented this award in front of Department of Defense leadership, industry leaders, cancer scientists, military healthcare providers, and other colleagues.

John L. Marshall, MD,&nbsp;recaps some of the biggest CRC advancements of 2017, and explained what those successes mean for the treatment paradigm moving forward.

According to findings from the phase III TERRA trial published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology, </em>previously treated Asian patients with metastatic colorectal cancer saw a significant survival benefit with TAS-102&nbsp;(trifluridine and tipiracil; Lonsurf) compared with placebo.

Based on results from the phase III OlympiAD trial, the PARP inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) has been approved by the FDA&nbsp;for the treatment of patients with germline&nbsp;BRCA-positive, metastatic breast cancer.

Boston University Medical Center has announced that Matthew Kulke, MD, will serve as its chief of the Section of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Medicine, effective March 1, 2018. Kulke will also obtain the roles of deputy director of the BU-BMC Cancer Center, medical director of the Clinical Cancer Center at BMC, and the Zoltan Kohn Professor of Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine.

Hope S. Rugo, MD, discusses findings of the&nbsp;CALGB 40502/NCCTG N063H study, which was a randomized phase III trial of paclitaxel compared with nab-paclitaxel or ixabepilone with bevacizumab as first-line chemotherapy for locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer.

Howard S. Hochster, MD, an internationally recognized leader in the development of cancer clinical trials, gastrointestinal oncology, and early phase cancer drugs, has joined Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey as associate director for clinical research and chief of gastrointestinal medical oncology.

Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, discusses&nbsp;phase I/II trial of sacituzumab govitecan which showed favorable clinical activity in patients with relapsed or refractory metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who have received at least 2 prior treatment regimens.

Howard A. &ldquo;Skip&rdquo; Burris III, MD, FACP, FASCO, has been elected as president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for the 2019-2020 term, which will begin in June 2019.

According to an updated analysis of the POLLUX trial, progression-free survival remained superior&nbsp;over time in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma treated with&nbsp;combination therapy that included the anti-CD38 antibody daratumumab.

According to a small,&nbsp;single-site prospective observation, women with ER-positive advanced high-grade serous ovarian cancer who received maintenance therapy with letrozole were more likely to be recurrence-free at 24 months, suggesting that letrozole may have a role to play in this setting,&nbsp;especially for patients with chemotherapy resistance or residual disease.<br /> &nbsp;