News

A triplet regimen consisting of chlorambucil and rituximab in combination with an individualized dose of lenalidomide can potentially be used as a frontline treatment for patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia who are older or unfit for standard treatment with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab.

Due to the significant decline in smoking and an increase in advances for early cancer detection and screening, the cancer death rate has declined 27% in the United States from 1991 to 2016, according to the American Cancer Society’s annual report on cancer rates.

UroGen has announced topline findings from the ongoing phase III OLYMPUS trial, in which the investigational mitomycin formulation UGN-101 (mitomycin gel) demonstrated a 57% complete response rate in patients with low-grade upper-tract urothelial cancer.

Maria-Victoria Mateos, MD, PhD, discusses updated findings from the ALCYONE trial in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. 

Cristina Gasparetto, MD, discusses findings from an ongoing trial of selinexor, daratumumab, and dexamethasone in patients with multiple myeloma

Eli Lilly and Company will acquire Loxo Oncology for an estimated $8 billion in cash, the company has announced.

An ongoing randomized phase III clinical trial is investigating the safety and efficacy of atezolizumab compared with placebo as an adjuvant treatment after definitive local therapy in patients with high-risk, locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Kerry A. Rogers, MD, discusses phase II findings with obinutuzumab, ibrutinib, and venetoclax and the future of dose-limited regimens in CLL.

C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, discusses the role of MRD negativity and the emergence of CAR T-cell therapy in multiple myeloma.

Findings of a recent study suggest HPV testing should be incorporated into cervical cancer screening programs. The nested case-control Swedish study found that the presence of specific subtypes of HPV, namely HPV-16 and -18, were associated with a higher risk of developing high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in women under the age of 30.

According to recently announced topline findings, the confirmatory phase III SOLO-3 trial of&nbsp;olaparib has met its primary endpoint, demonstrating a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in&nbsp;objective response rate in patients with <em>BRCA</em>-mutant ovarian cancer who have relapsed on at least 2 prior lines of therapy

Michael Diaz, MD, was recently elected president of the Community Oncology Alliance and began his 1-year term on January 1, 2019. Diaz, a medical oncologist at Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, is a long-time board member and volunteer with COA.

In a merger agreement announced today,&nbsp;Bristol-Myers Squibb will be acquiring Celgene Corporation in a $74 billion deal to be paid with a combination of cash and stocks.

Joseph A. Sparano, MD,&nbsp;explains the current role of liquid biopsies in the breast cancer space and how this role will evolve over time.

At a planned interim analysis of the&nbsp;phase III JAVELIN Ovarian 100 study evaluating frontline avelumab in ovarian cancer, an independent panel determined the study would not meet its primary endpoint of progression-free survival. The co-developers of the PD-L1 inhibitor have announced they will terminate the trial on this basis.

Findings of a recent study suggest surgical choices in women with breast cancer may have long-term impacts on their quality of life. Investigators found that younger patients with breast cancer who underwent lumpectomy had better QOL outcomes than patients who had a&nbsp;mastectomy.

Dasatinib (Sprycel) tablets has been approved by the FDA to be used in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of pediatric patients &ge;1 year of age with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia.<br /> &nbsp;

A telephone-based lifestyle intervention program led to weight loss and higher rates of disease-free survival in early-stage breast cancer survivors, according to findings of a recent study.

A look back at all the&nbsp;FDA news&nbsp;that happened in the month of&nbsp;December 2018, including several new approvals, an accelerated approval, and a priority review.

In an updated analysis of the phase III TAILORx trial in patients with breast cancer, investigators found that chemotherapy resulted in significantly&nbsp;more acute symptoms compared with&nbsp;endocrine therapy, however, the adverse events associated with endocrine therapy increased over time.

David S. Hong, MD,&nbsp;discusses the use of larotrectinib in patients with thyroid cancer, as well as what is on the horizon with this agent and other TRK inhibitors.

Minimizing dose interruptions of lenvantinib improved progression-free survival in patients with radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (RR-DTC), according to an exploratory post-hoc analysis from a phase III randomized trial.

Promising efficacy was seen with anlotinib therapy in patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic medullary thyroid cancer in the form of durable antitumor responses, according to the results of a Chinese phase II study recently published in the journal <em>Thyroid</em>.

A randomized phase II trial found that both fluorouracil plus cisplatin and twice-daily radiation and gemcitabine plus once-daily radiation achieved freedom from distant metastasis at 3 years in at least 75% of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Thomas Powles, MBBS, MRCP, MD,&nbsp;discusses recent changes to the frontline landscape of bladder cancer and where research should focus moving forward.

During a <em>Targeted Oncology</em> live case-based peer perspectives presentation, Jonathon B. Cohen, MD, MS, recently discussed the treatment considerations and decisions he makes when treating patients with classical Hodgkin Lymphoma

A new pooled analysis concluded that the leading cause of death in patients with follicular lymphoma continues to be lymphoma, despite the widespread improvements in overall survival demonstrated with rituximab.

Nikhil I. Khushalani, MD,&nbsp;discusses the role of adjuvant therapy in patients with melanoma across various subtypes, and also highlights melanoma trials ongoing at Moffitt Cancer Center.<br /> &nbsp;

Ravulizumab-cwvz has been approved by the FDA as an injection treatment for&nbsp;adults with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, a rare blood disorder that leads to hemolysis.

Jeffrey Weber, MD, PhD, discussed the data in support of discontinuing treatment in melanoma and how to properly follow these patients after they go off treatment.<br /> &nbsp;