News

Krishnansu S. Tewari, MD, discussed the results from the phase III clinical trial investigating the addition of bevacizumab to standard chemotherapy treatment following surgery in patients with advanced ovarian cancer, and the next steps for research regarding the role of bevacizumab in ovarian cancer treatment.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology&nbsp;</em>following a presentation at the Charlotte Plasma Cell Disorder Congress, Cesar Rodriguez Valdes, MD explained how small molecules fit into the myeloma treatment and notes the ongoing research that shows promise for the next class of small molecules in the future.<br /> &nbsp;

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology, </em>James&nbsp;McCloskey, MD, explained the need for consideration of elderly patients when designing clinical trials for <em>IDH</em>-mutated AML and other considerations when treating this patient population.

In the largest genomic study of Merkel cell carcinoma tumors to date, investigators identified 2 distinct molecular subgroups, an ultraviolet light&ndash;driven subtype and a viral-driven subtype, which matched with tumor mutational burden classifications.&nbsp;

The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to acalabrutinib monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.&nbsp;The breakthrough designation was given based on the results of interim analyses from 2 phase III trials: ELEVATE-TN and ASCEND.&nbsp;

Olaparib in combination with bevacizumab demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival as a frontline maintenance regimen compared with bevacizumab alone in women with advanced ovarian cancer, according to early results from the phase III PAOLA-1 trial.

In patients with <em>RAS </em>wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer, maintenance therapy with single-agent panitumumab was inferior in terms of progression-free survival compared with a combined regimen of panitumumab plus fluorouracil and leucovorin; however, the combination regimen showed a higher rate of treatment-related toxicities, according to results from the phase II noninferiority VALENTINO trial.<br /> &nbsp;

Ripretinib demonstrated a significantly improved progression-free survival compared with placebo in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors being treated in the fourth-line setting or beyond, according to topline results from the phase III INVICTUS trial. An NDA for ripretinib is planned for the first quarter of 2020.&nbsp;

During an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Charu Agarwal, MD, reviewed the findings of a prospective study of pembrolizumab monotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC.

Reporting on the debate with his peer, Lawrence J. Solin, MD, FACR, FASTRO explained his stance on whole breast irradiation in comparison with partial breast irradiation in breast cancer treatment during an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>.&nbsp;More research is needed to support the idea that PBI can be used for more patients, according to Solin.

Vicinium has demonstrated positive 12-month complete response rate findings in the VISTA trial of patients with high-risk patients with non&ndash;muscle-invasive bladder cancer who were unresponsive to bacillus Calmette-Gu&eacute;rin treatment, according to updated preliminary findings from the phase III clinical trial.

The American Society of Hematology has chosen Philip Greenberg, MD, to receive the 2019 E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize for his work in immunotherapy.

Osimertinib has demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival compared with standard first-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with newly diagnosed <em>EGFR</em>-mutated non&ndash;small cell lung cancer, according to updated findings from the phase III FLAURA trial.

During a recent&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology&nbsp;</em>live case-based peer perspectives presentation, Corey J. Langer, MD, discussed with a group of physicians the diagnostic workup and the considerations for treatment he makes when seeing a patient with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer in the clinic. Langer, director of thoracic oncology, Abramson Cancer Center, and professor of medicine, Hematology/Oncology Division, University of Pennsylvania, reviewed treatment options based on a case study of a patient with stage III NSCLC.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Noopur Raje, MD, director, Center for Multiple Myeloma, Massachusetts General Hospital, talked through the current options for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma and the clinical trial data that will shape the future of the field.

Overall survival was not improved with the use of lefitolimod as a maintenance therapy compared with local standard-of-care therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, according to early findings from the pivotal phase III IMPALA trial. The median OS was 22.0 months with lefitolimod compared with 21.9 months with standard of care, which failed to meet the primary endpoint of the trial.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Llovet discussed the positive results from the REACH-2 trial and how its results are shaping future combinations therapies for the treatment of patients with advanced HCC.

Tissue-based microsatellite instability testing showed high concordance for detection of cell-free DNA, according to the results of a <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em> analysis.

In patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma, immunotherapy treatment yielded worse overall survival during the first 12 months compared with carboplatin-based chemotherapy, but a superior OS at 36 months. These results from a large, retrospective cohort study were published recently in <em>European Urology</em>.

The FDA has granted a priority review to a New Drug Application for avapritinib as a treatment for adult patients with <em>PDGFRA</em> exon 18&ndash;mutant gastrointestinal stromal tumors, regardless of prior therapy, and in the fourth-line setting for GIST.

Jorge Cortes, MD Cortes discussed frontline treatment options for patients with CML with <em>Targeted Oncology</em> ahead of a debate on optimal frontline regimens for chronic myeloid leukemia at the <em>3rd Annual</em> Live Medical Crossfire: Hematologic Malignancies, hosted by Physicians&rsquo; Education Resource.<br /> &nbsp;

Olaparib demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in radiographic progression-free survival compared with enzalutamide or abiraterone acetate in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have a homologous recombination repair mutation and have progressed on prior treatment with new hormonal anticancer treatments, according to early findings from the PROfound trial.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Chong, a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, discussed the 4-year follow-up data for CAR T cells in patients with DLBCL and FL. She also addressed the challenges that need to be overcome in order to give more patients access to this type of therapy.

Mark J. Ratain, MD&nbsp;provided guidance on the current landscape for research biopsies in clinical trials and talked through the recommendations and how the new ethical framework can improve clinical trials during an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>. He also explained the potential role for liquid biopsies and blood-based biomarker testing within clinical research.

A phase III clinical trial has begun to investigate the use of cemiplimab as an adjuvant treatment after surgery and radiation therapy in patients with high-risk cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.<br /> &nbsp;

Next-generation sequencing has increasingly become more valuable to physicians treating cancer at academic medical centers, but these tests also need to be incorporated more into community oncology practices. A recent study, presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting, demonstrated that the use of these tests has increased in the community setting as the technology, and the use and approval of matched therapies, continues to develop.

The phase III IMvigor130 study showed significant improvement in progression-free survival with the combination of&nbsp;Atezolizumab and chemotherapy in patients with&nbsp;previously untreated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, according to a recent press release from manufacturer, Genentech.

Studies combining KRAS inhibitor AMG 510 several other is the start of a hopeful era for the treatment of&nbsp;KRAS-mutant non&ndash;small cell lung cancer, according to Vassiliki Papadimitrakopoulou, MD, at the 2019 International Lung Cancer Congress.

Pexidartinib for the treatment of&nbsp;symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor in adults has been approved by the FDA for patients with severe morbidity or functional limitations that are not responsive to improvement with surgery.

Sequential afatinib followed by osimertinib has demonstrated a long-term overall survival of close to 4 years in patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer who have <em>EGFR </em>deletion 19&ndash;positive tumors and acquired T790M mutations, according to interim results released from the real-world GioTag study.