News

In the HER2CLIMB trial, the addition of tucatinib to trastuzumab and capecitabine significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with locally advanced, unresectable, or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer, meeting the primary endpoint of the study, according to a press release from Seattle Genetics.<br /> &nbsp;

Atezolizumab and bevacizumab demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in both progression-free survival and overall survival compared with sorafenib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma who have not received previous systemic therapy; this met both of the co-primary endpoints of the phase III IMbrave150 trial.

In an interview with&nbsp;Targeted Oncology&nbsp;at the ILCA conference, Rimola, radiologist, Radiology Department, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Group, University of Barcelona, explained how assessment criteria may change patterns of progression and ultimately change outcomes in patients with advanced HCC treated with nivolumab.

Ivosidenib in combination with azacitidine demonstrated promising efficacy in addition to being well tolerated in patients with newly diagnosed <em>IDH1</em>-mutant acute myeloid leukemia who were ineligible for intensive chemotherapy.

The triplet combination of abemaciclib, trastuzumab, and fulvestrant showed a significant statistical improvement in progression-free survival compared with chemotherapy and trastuzumab in patients with heavily pretreated, hormone receptor&ndash;positive, HER2-positive breast cancer, according to the results of the phase II monarcHER trial.

The lack of approved therapies to target EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations, the third most common form of EGFR mutations, led to the study of osimertinib in combination with cetuximab in patients with advanced EGFR-mutant non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.<br /> &nbsp;

The FDA has approved a supplemental biologics license application for an updated indication expanding the use of romiplostim in the treatment of adult patients with immune thrombocytopenia to include newly diagnosed patients and patients with persistent ITP who have had an insufficient response to corticosteroids, immunoglobulins, or splenectomy.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Amit Singal, MD, MS,&nbsp;discussed issues with surveillance in patients with NASH, with or without cirrhosis. He also highlighted how combatting these issues can help improve the survival of patients with NASH-related HCC.

The FDA has accepted and granted a priority review to a biologics license application for [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan (DS-8201) for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

In a&nbsp;Targeted Oncology&nbsp;case-based peer perspectives live discussion with a group of physicians, Corey J. Langer, MD, reviewed the potential for treatment with immunotherapy following chemoradiotherapy for patients with stage III non&ndash;small cell lung cancer. Langer discussed these options based off of a case scenario of a patient with stage IIIA lung adenocarcinoma.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Kristen M. Pettit, MD, discussed the data supporting the FDA&rsquo;s fast track designation of the novel agent IMG-7289 for the treatment of patients with MF.

TAS-102 improved overall survival in patients with metastatic gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer, regardless of prior gastrectomy, according to a preplanned subgroup analysis from the phase III TAGS trial published in&nbsp;<em>JAMA Oncology</em>.<br /> &nbsp;

Ruxolitinib demonstrated a significant improvement in overall response rate over best available therapy at day 28 in patients with steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease, according to topline results from the phase III REACH2 trial.&nbsp;Novartis, the company developing the JAK inhibitor, announced in a press release that this met the primary endpoint of the trial.

Patients with treatment-na&iuml;ve EGFR-mutant non&ndash;small cell lung cancer experienced a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival with the combination of ramucirumab and erlotinib compared with erlotinib alone, according to the results of the phase III RELAY trial which was recently published in The Lancet Oncology.

In an interview with&nbsp;Targeted Oncology, Luis Paz-Ares, MD, PhD, discussed the findings for the CASPIAN trial that were presented at the 2019 ESMO Congress. He also addressed what next steps are necessary to further develop the durvalumab combination in this setting.&nbsp;

Among patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome who completed myeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the predictive utility of testing circulating tumor DNA was comparable with that of mutation persistence evaluation in matched bone marrow samples, according to a study published recently in Blood.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Tanios Bekaii-Saab, MD, discussed the results of the BACCI and MOUNTAINEER studies, which showed promise for the use of PD-1/PD-L1 combinations over single-agent treatment in patients with metastatic&nbsp;colorectal cancer.&nbsp;

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Maha Hussain, MD, discussed targeting DNA repair defects in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with the PARP inhibitor olaparib in the phase III PROfound trial.

In a presentation at the 2019 ESMO Congress on a case series of 7 pretreated patients with <em>NRG1</em>-positive tumors, Stephen Liu, MD, and colleagues discussed the efficacy of afatinib and explained that afatinib may be a potential treatment option for <em>NRG1</em>-positive tumors across multiple cancer types.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em> during the 2019 SOHO Annual Meeting, Andrew Kuykendall, MD discussed similarities and differences between fedratinib and ruxolitinib and offered advice to community oncologists who are using JAK inhibition for treating patients with myelofibrosis.

A phase III trial, HER2CLIMB-02, has been initiated to investigate the combination of tucatinib and ado-trastuzumab emtansine in patients with locally advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.&nbsp;The results of the trial will support registration for tucatinib in the United States.

Barbara Pro, MD, spoke with a group of physicians during a <em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives discussion about the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma based on the case&nbsp;of a young woman with classic Hodgkin lymphoma.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Negrao, assistant professor, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, reviewed data from the study of response to ICB therapy in patients with oncogene-driven non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Kasi, assistant professor of oncology and senior associate consultant in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Iowa, Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, discussed the current role and utility of liquid biopsy in colorectal cancer, and what he&rsquo;s looking forward to bringing up during the 2019 ISGIO Annual Conference.

The case for the combination of olaparib and durvalumab in patients with metastatic breast cancer and relapsed ovarian cancer with germline&nbsp;BRCA&nbsp;mutations was strengthened based on the updated results from the phase I/II MEDIOLA, which was covered in 2 separate presentations at the 2019 ESMO Congress.

A pivotal multicenter, open-label, randomized phase III trial has been initiated to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the novel mitochondrial inhibitor, devimistat in combination with a modified FOLFIRNOX regimen for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, according to a press release from Rafael Pharmaceuticals.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology&nbsp;</em>at the<em>&nbsp;</em>2019<em>&nbsp;</em>Kidney Cancer Research Summit, McGregor, discussed emerging combinations and novel agents for the treatment of RCC.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, LMichael S. Lee, MD, discussed the early data on the combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in patients with unresectable HCC. He also highlighted the importance of further validation, like the phase III IMbrave150 study, which is comparing the combination to the standard of care.

Multiple presentations at the 2019 ESMO Congress add to the evidence that blood-based biomarkers have predictive utility in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Blood-based next-generation sequencing has also shown clinical utility in aiding treatment decisions for physicians treating this disease.

Following the 2019 ESMO Congress, experts across various fields highlighted some next steps and how these treatment options will improve the treatment landscape for patients with ovarian, lung, breast, GI, or GU cancers. Overall, the abstracts presented at this year&rsquo;s meeting will change the treatment paradigm in a number of patient populations.