News

The Association of Community Cancer Centers has launched the Barriers to Quality Care in Ovarian Cancer project, a collaboration with AstraZeneca, Merck, and partners including the Association for Molecular Pathology, the National Society of Genetic Counselors, and the Society of Gynecologic Oncology. The project aims to understand the key issues associated with ovarian cancer care and provide guidance to help cancer centers implement better care for patients diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer. 

The FDA has accepted and is reviewing a Biologics License Application (BLA) for isatuximab as a potential treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. A target action date of April 30, 2020 has been set by the agency.¹<br /> &nbsp;

In an interview with&nbsp;Targeted Oncology, David Spigel, MD, discussed the updated findings from the PACIFIC trial and how these data will impact the treatment landscape for patients with stage III NSCLC, as well as those with earlier-stage disease. He also highlighted controversies that clinicians face with incorporating immunotherapy into their practice for patients.

The 4-drug regimen of daratumumab in combination with bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone induced a high percentage of stringent complete responses compared with VRd alone in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are eligible for high-dose chemotherapy and an autologous stem cell transplantation, according to topline results of the GRIFFIN trial. This met the primary endpoint of the phase II trial.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Shlomo Koyfman, MD, the director of head and neck and skin cancer radiation at Cleveland Clinic, provides details about the current treatments for cSCC and how the new KEYNOTE-630 trial could improve practice for oncologists who treat cSCC.

The FDA has granted a fast track designation for CLR 131 as a potential treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The designation was based on data from the DLBCL cohort of the ongoing phase II CLOVER-1 trial which is investigating CLR 131 in patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell lymphomas.

The FDA has accepted 6 supplemental Biologics License Applications (sBLAs) for review for a potential update to the dosing schedule for pembrolizumab across several indications.

Updated results from an interim analysis of the phase III BEACON CRC trial demonstrated a significant improvement in overall survival for the triplet regimen of encorafenib, binimetinib, and cetuximab compared with cetuximab and irinotecan-containing regimens in patients with previously treated&nbsp;<em>BRAF&nbsp;</em>V600E&ndash;mutant metastatic colorectal cancer.

Treatment with erlotinib significantly extended progression-free survival in patients with stage IIIA-N2&nbsp;<em>EGFR-</em>mutant non&ndash;small cell lung cancer compared with a combined chemotherapy regimen of gemcitabine plus cisplatin, according to clinical trial results published recently in the&nbsp;<em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.

Aiwu Ruth He, MD, PhD, discusses treatment options in a&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives discussion&nbsp;based on 2 case studies of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.&nbsp;

At 3 years of follow-up, the combination of acalabrutinib and obinutuzumab continued to show benefit in patients with both newly diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukemia and relapsed or refractory disease.

A new study shows comparability between liquid biopsy and tissue biopsy in both diagnostics and monitoring of non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, based on the results, liquid biopsies may be preferable to help oncologists make swifter decisions that help manage the disease.<br /> &nbsp;

Selinexor has received an accelerated approval from the FDA for use in combination with&nbsp;dexamethasone for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma who have received &ge;4 prior therapies and whose disease is refractory to &ge;2 proteasome inhibitors, &ge;2 immunomodulatory agents, and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody.

Cemiplimab has been approved by the&nbsp;European Commission for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic or locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma who are not candidates for curative surgery or curative radiation.

The development of an immune-related adverse event was associated with improved patient response in an FDA analysis of patients with advanced urothelial cancer treated with a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Shota Fukuoka, MD, PhD, of the Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan, commented on the results of the study and the future plans to expand the research with a larger cohort.

The FDA approved a supplemental New Drug Application for avatrombopag as a treatment for adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia who have had an insufficient response to a prior therapy.

A supplemental New Drug Application has been submitted to the FDA for the potential approval of neratinib in combination with capecitabine for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who have progressed on 2 or more prior HER2-targeted treatments.

The Cancer Research Institute announced 5 US scientists accepted into their inaugural CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR Program for taking on potentially transformative research in cancer immunology. The scientists were announced at the CRI&rsquo;s recent &ldquo;Immuno-Oncology: A Future Look&rdquo; event at the New York Academy of Sciences, which also recognized and celebrated the seventh annual Cancer Immunotherapy Month.

In June 2019, the FDA approved a number of agents many fields, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, small cell lung cancer, gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, and multiple myeloma. The FDA also approved the fifth biosimilar for trastuzumab and another biosimilar for&nbsp;bevacizumab across several indications.

The Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute will be welcoming Susmitha Apuri, MD, into its ranks starting July 1, 2019.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology, </em>Richard T. Penson, MD,&nbsp;discussed the significance of the findings recently presented for the SOLO3 trial in patients with platinum-sensitive, relapsed <em>BRCA-</em>positive ovarian cancer.

During a recent <em>Targeted Oncology </em>case-based peer perspectives live dinner event, Massimo Cristofanilli, MD, explained the options for treatment based on the case scenario of a woman with ER-positive breast cancer.<br /> &nbsp;

An updated systematic review and new meta-analysis of the incidence of subsequent malignant neoplasms following thyroid cancer has found that there was no significant increased relative risk of breast cancer, salivary cancer, or combined hematologic malignancies based on whether or not patients had received radioactive iodine.

The FDA has approved Zirabev, a biosimilar to bevacizumab for 5 indications.&nbsp;Zirabev has been approved for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer; unresectable, locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic non-squamous non&ndash;small cell lung cancer; recurrent glioblastoma; metastatic renal cell carcinoma; and persistent, recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer.

The frontline combination of daratumumab with lenalidomide and dexamethasone has been approved by the FDA&nbsp;for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplantation.

Lenalidomide plus standard R-CHOP immunochemotherapy may help select patients with activated B-cell-type diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who have a poor prognosis, based on data from the phase III ROBUST trial presented at the 2019 International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma.<br /> &nbsp;

Two community oncology and hematology practices will be joining the American Oncology Network, LLC in June and July: Cancer Blood Specialists of Louisville and Hope Cancer Care of Nevada.

Frontline durvalumab led to a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival (OS) in combination with etoposide and platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, according to the results of a planned interim analysis of the phase III CASPIAN trial.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Andrew Turk, MD, discussed his presentation at the&nbsp;<em>3rd Annual</em> Congress on Oncology and Pathology as well as the current state of molecular testing for thyroid cancer and the future of testing and diagnostics.