News

Zarxio (filgrastim-sndz), the first FDA-approved biosimilar, is now available for patients in the United States, after a series of court decisions and lawsuits.

The standard of care for lung cancers has been dramatically transformed by the growing availability of molecular diagnostics and genetic testing, and by targeted therapies that specifically inhibit a number of well-established oncogenic drivers.

US Veterans, including former Air Force personnel who participated in Operation Ranch Hand, have a 2.4-fold increased risk of multiple myeloma’s precursor state, MGUS,

Nivolumab (Opdivo) was given a priority review designation by the FDA for patients with previously treated nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

A new study suggests that the presence of persistent genetic mutations, 30 days after induction chemotherapy, predicted relapse and survival in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), as well as intermediate-risk patients.

Rolapitant (Varubi) was recently approved by the FDA for use in combination with other antiemetic agents, in order to prevent delayed CINV from initial and repeat chemotherapy regiments, including highly emetogenic chemotherapy.

Elotuzumab (Empliciti) was recently granted a priority review by the FDA for use in combination therapy in patients who have multiple myeloma, following the failure of one or more prior therapies.

A priority review designation was recently assigned by the FDA to the intravesical immunotherapy MCNA as a treatment for patients who have high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, following first-line bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) therapy.

A novel basket trial has reported results on the treatment of vemurafenib in variety of nonmelanoma cancers with BRAF V600 mutation.

A recent study published by David Pepin, PhD, et al shows a promising gene therapy treatment that can inhibit tumor growth in preclinical models of serous ovarian cancer.

Patients with epithelial ovarian cancer who took non-selective beta blockers (NSBBs) during chemotherapy had significantly improved overall survival (OS) than those who did not.

Young black women have a higher prevalence of BRCA mutations compared with that previously reported among non-Hispanic white women.

An application for afatinib (Gilotrif) was recently accepted by the FDA for the treatment of patients with squamous cell non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Eltrombopag (Promacta) was approved by the FDA for the treatment of pediatric patients with chronic ITP, following a lack of response to additional therapies or splenectomy.

Cabozantinib (Cometriq) was given a breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA for the treatment of patients who have advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), following one prior therapy.

The therapeutic palette for Hodgkin Lymphoma is growing, along with improvements in survival and cure rates.

Sonidegib (Odomzo) was approved by the EC for the treatment of patients who have locally advanced basal cell carcinoma (laBCC) and are not amenable to curative surgery or radiation therapy.

A recent study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology has helped to confirm the correlation between transplantation and increased risk of melanoma.1-3

It is well known that having multiple moles (ie, >50) is a risk factor for developing melanoma. A new study shows, however, that melanoma can also develop in people with fewer than 50 moles, and when it does, it typically has a more aggressive course.

Former US President Jimmy Carter announced that melanoma was found on four different spots of his brain, as well as on his liver.

Genetic testing may improve treatment for multiple myeloma by helping oncologists identify patients at risk for developing more aggressive disease.

Early detection of metastasis in patients with breast cancer, which is critical for designing effective targeted therapies, has unfortunate limitations with prevalent screening methods. A study published in Nature Communications has shown promise for extending the detection limit of the current clinical imaging technology

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) has received priority review from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as frontline treatment for patients with advanced melanoma.

A publication in Scientific Reports has identified a novel biomarker, diaphanous-related formin-3 (DIAPH3), which may help predict response to taxane-based chemotherapies in patients with metastatic breast or prostate cancer.

Evidence is mounting for multigene panel testing in women with suspected familial breast and/or ovarian cancer.

The antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) was recently approved by the FDA as a consolidation therapy following autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in patients who have Hodgkin lymphoma and are at risk of relapse or progression.

The development of novel targeted drugs, such as brentuximab vedotin (Adcentris), against discrete cell surface proteins, such as CD30, has awakened a new way of thinking about targeted cancer biology

A Mayo Clinic Laboratory, which discovered that upregulation of ras homolog gene family member B (RhoB), in combination with paclitaxel results in enhanced antitumor activity, has uncovered the molecular mechanisms underlying combination therapy for anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC).

AstraZeneca’s MedImmune has entered into a licensing agreement and collaboration with Inovio Pharmaceuticals, whereby MedImmune was given exclusive rights to Inovio’s INO-3112 immunotherapy.

The review period for frontline nivolumab (Opdivo), in patients who have advanced melanoma, recently received an extension of three months by the FDA, in order to allow ample time for review of the additional data submitted by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS)