News

A new single-center report published in&nbsp;<em>JCO Precision Oncology&nbsp;</em>offers a proof of concept for using circulating tumor DNA to guide clinical decisions in high-grade serous ovarian cancer.&nbsp;

In the first precision oncology trial for pediatric patients with cancer, a larger percentage of patients than expected who underwent screening for targetable alterations in their tumors were able to be assigned to a treatment targeted to that alteration or pathway.

Lenalidomide induced a 72% reduction in the risk of progression to symptomatic disease in patients with smoldering multiple myeloma at 3 years, according to data from the ECOG E3A06 study, to be presented during the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Comparable efficacy and minimized adverse events were seen with a lower dose of&nbsp;oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) and capecitabine (Xeloda)&nbsp;in elderly and frail patients with advanced gastroesophageal cancer, according to findings to be presented during&nbsp;the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

By eating a balanced, low-fat diet and daily portions of vegetables, fruit, and grains, women have a 21% lower risk of dying from breast cancer, according to research to be presented during the upcoming 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.

The FDA has lifted the partial clinical hold placed on the phase III AIM2CERV trial, which is evaluating axalimogene filolisbac (AXAL) for the treatment of patients with high-risk locally advanced cervical cancer, according to Advaxis, the developer of the investigational immunotherapy agent.

The combination of venetoclax (Venclexta) and obinutuzumab (Gazyva) has been approved by the FDA&nbsp;for the frontline treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma, based on findings from the&nbsp;phase III CLL14 trial.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Ian W. Flinn, MD, PhD, discussed the findings from the phase III BRIGHT trial for patients with MCL. He also highlighted the impact of BR in this patient population and other combinations under active investigation.

Myung-Ju Ahn, MD, discusses the results from the AURA LM trial and the next steps that need to be taken in order to confirm the efficacy that was seen with the lower dose. In addition, she highlights where research in the treatment landscape of advanced NSCLC is headed.

The FDA has granted AL101 with an orphan drug designation for the treatment of patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma.

The combination of&nbsp;avelumab (Bavencio) and axitinib (Inlyta) has been approved by the FDA&nbsp;for the frontline treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, based on findings from the phase III JAVELIN Renal 101 trial.

In an 8-3 vote, the FDA&rsquo;s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee has recommended against approving a new drug application for quizartinib for adult patients with relapsed/refractory&nbsp;FLT3-ITD&ndash;positive acute myeloid leukemia. The FDA is now scheduled to make a final decision on the application by&nbsp;August 25, 2019.

Novel radiotherapeutic CLR 131 has been granted a fast track designation from the FDA as a fourth-line or later treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

A scheduled meeting of the FDA&#39;s&nbsp;Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee supported the indication of pexidartinib as a treatment for adult patients with&nbsp;symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor. The panel voted 12 to 3 in favor of the CSF1R inhibitor.&nbsp;

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Banu Arun, MD, discussed the role of genetic testing in patients with metastatic breast cancer. She highlighted the importance of identifying various mutations, including&nbsp;<em>BRCA1/2&nbsp;</em>mutations in light of the approval of PARP inhibitors. In addition, she spoke to how the role of genomic testing is evolving in this field with the development of new targeted agents.

The FDA has granted P-BCMA-101 with an orphan drug designation for the treatment of patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma.

Pomalidomide was granted a breakthrough designation by the FDA for use as treatment for both patients with HIV-positive Kaposi sarcoma who have had prior chemotherapy and patients with HIV-negative Kaposi sarcoma.

Ramucirumab monotherapy has received an approval from the FDA for the treatment of&nbsp;patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who have an alpha fetoprotein of &ge;400 ng/mL and have been previously treated with sorafenib.

Jacqueline C. Barrientos, MD, MS,&nbsp;discusses the emerging treatment options for patients with CLL, as well as some of the other strategies being looked at in clinical trials.

According to findings from an exploratory analysis from the phase III IMpower150 trial presented at the 2019 European Lung Cancer Congress, atezolizumab plus bevacizumab, carboplatin, and paclitaxel has emerged as a potential new standard of care for patients with <em>EGFR</em>-positive metastatic nonsquamous non&ndash;small cell lung cancer who have failed on TKI treatment.

Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, FACP, explains the biologic difference between left- and right-sided CRC and highlights recent research on tumor sidedness and its impact on clinical practice.

Elizabeth Kessler, MD, explained to a group of physicians in a recent&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology&nbsp;</em>live case-based peer perspectives presentation the treatment considerations and decisions she makes when seeing a patient with prostate cancer in the clinic.

Nicolas Girard, MD,&nbsp;discussed the importance of evaluating durvalumab in a real-world setting. In addition, he highlights other questions that remain unanswered in this area, as well as the role of immunotherapy in patients with NSCLC.

Final results from the phase III CheckMate 498 trial demonstrated that nivolumab in combination with radiation failed to demonstrate a significant improvement in overall survival compared with temozolomide and radiation in patients with newly diagnosed <em>MGMT</em>-unmethylated glioblastoma multiforme.

In topline findings from the phase II DESTINY-BreastO1 study,&nbsp;[fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan demonstrated encouraging responses in patients with unresectable and/or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer that has been previously treated with ado-trastuzumab emtansine.

Treatment with vaginal cuff brachytherapy plus paclitaxel and carboplatin chemotherapy was not found to be superior to pelvic radiation therapy in patients with high-intermediate and high-risk early-stage endometrial cancer, according to findings from a phase III trial recently published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.

R. Michael Tuttle, MD, discusses the outcomes from a 2-day interactive meeting which brought together thryoid cancer experts across 4 organizations and 8 countries to discuss the use of radioactive iodine therapy, including the development of 9 principles for the optimal management of patients.

The phase III ASCEND trial has met its primary endpoint, as findings from the study showed that patients with previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia had a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in PFS with acalabrutinib compared with the combination of rituximab and either idelalisib or bendamustine.

Patient-reported outcomes from the phase III myeloma X trial suggested that although patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who received salvage autologous stem cell transplantation had an initial reduction in quality of life and experienced a greater impact of adverse events, they had better long-term outcomes compared with patients who received nontransplantation consolidation.

Vofatamab when given as a monotherapy or in combination with docetaxel was well tolerated and had no long-term safety issues in 55 patients with metastatic urothelial cancer who had failed platinum-based chemotherapy, according to the results of a phase II expansion study.