News

Robert Andtbacka, MD, discusses the current use of T-VEC in melanoma and future directions with this type of treatment.

Jonathon B. Cohen, MD, MS, recently discussed treatment considerations and decisions in the case of a patient with follicular lymphoma.&nbsp;Cohen discussed the case scenario during a&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>&nbsp;live case-based peer perspectives dinner.

The review period for&nbsp;a supplemental biologics license application for first-line treatment with pembrolizumab monotherapy for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous or squamous non&ndash;small cell lung cancer with PD-L1 expression (tumor proportion score) of &ge;1% and no&nbsp;<em>EGFR&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>ALK&nbsp;</em>genomic tumor aberrations has been extended by the FDA, according to a press release by Merck,&nbsp;the manufacturer of pembrolizumab.

Several oncology experts discuss the FDA approvals they found most significant in 2018.

During a <em>Targeted Oncology </em>case-based peer perspectives program, Keith Stewart, MB, ChB, discussed his clinical considerations for the management of multiple myeloma, especially in light of new data from the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting that could be reaching the clinic soon.

Stephen Oh, MD, PhD,&nbsp;discusses the use of ruxolitinib in patients with myelofibrosis and PV, and emerging agents and next steps in the field of MPNs.

Kevin Staveley-O&rsquo;Carroll, MD, PhD,&nbsp;discusses how the field of HCC has advanced over the last few years and how a mouse model at the University of&nbsp;Missouri is being used to further investigate immunotherapy treatment options.<br /> &nbsp;

A longer-acting version of calaspargase pegol-mknl has been approved by the FDA&nbsp;as a component of a multiagent chemotherapy regimen for pediatric and young adult patients aged 1 month to 21 years with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Tagraxofusp-erzs infusion has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients, aged &ge;2 years, with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm.

Treatment with the immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab demonstrated dose-limiting toxicities when combined with the tyrosine kinase inhibitors sunitinib or pazopanib to treat advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma, according to the results of a phase I parallel cohort dose escalation trial. However, both combinations showed encouraging preliminary antitumor activity.

Paul R. Eber, MD,&nbsp; discusses how the findings from the phase III CARMENA trial impact mRCC treatment and what challenges remain.<br /> &nbsp;

Michael J. Pishvaian, MD, PhD,&nbsp;discusses the potential for atezolizumab and bevacizumab in the frontline setting of HCC, as well the overall impact of immunotherapy in the treatment landscape of HCC.

Patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who received cabozantinib demonstrated improved clinical outcomes compared with patients who received everolimus in a subgroup analysis of clinical outcomes from the phase III METEOR trial.&nbsp;

Patients with hydroxyurea resistant/intolerant polycythemia vera without palpable splenomegaly who were treated with ruxolitinib experienced a 3-fold increase in the likelihood of achieving hematocrit control over patients treated with physician&rsquo;s-choice therapy, with a majority of those patients maintaining their response at 80 weeks, according to findings of a phase III prospective trial.

A targeted conditioning regimen may help to bridge patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation, according to preliminary feasibility and safety findings from the pivotal randomized phase III SIERRA trial.

David O&rsquo;Malley, MD, discussed the findings from 2 clinical trials investigating PARP inhibition in ovarian cancer.

The first patient has been enrolled in the pivotal phase III AGENT trial, which is investigating arfolitixorin in combination with 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and bevacizumab compared with FOLFOX plus bevacizumab in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, according to Isofol Medical AB, the company developing arfolitixorin.

Novel immunomodulatory agent pixatimod combined with nivolumab, a PD-1 inhibitor, may benefit patients with advanced bowel cancers, including a small subset of those with colorectal cancer considered to be microsatellite stable.

Real-world dosing data for regorafenib in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer was presented at the 2018 ESMO Congress from the prospective, observational CORRELATE study.

According to findings from a subgroup analysis of the phase III ARIEL3 study presented at the 2018 ESMO Congress, the PARP inhibitor&nbsp;rucaparib (Rubraca)&nbsp;improved progression-free survival as a maintenance therapy in patients with&nbsp;platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer&nbsp;compared to placebo, despite the number prior of chemotherapy regimens.

The combination of ibrutinib and durvalumab demonstrated a modest clinical benefit for patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma and germinal center B-cell diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, according to the results of a phase I/II trial.

Pembrolizumab has been granted an&nbsp;accelerated approval by the FDA as a treatment for&nbsp;adult and pediatric patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.

Olaparib has been approved by the FDA as a maintenance therapy for&nbsp;patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline or somatic <em>BRCA</em>-mutated advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to frontline platinum-based chemotherapy, as approved by an FDA-approved companion diagnostic assay.

During a presentation at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, data from a subgroup analysis of the phase III TAILORx trial demonstrated worse outcomes in African-American patients compared to Caucasian patients with early breast cancer following adjuvant therapy. Both groups had a similar risk of recurrence and had received similar types of therapy, according the report.

Viola Poeschel, MD,&nbsp;discusses findings from the phase III FLYER trial and how they will impact the treatment landscape for younger patients with favorable-prognosis DLBCL.<br /> &nbsp;

According to findings from the&nbsp;phase IIb SADAL study, selinexor demonstrated deep and durable responses in patients with&nbsp;relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who are not candidates for autologous stem cell transplantation.

Harry P. Erba, MD, PhD, recently talked about the treatment considerations and decisions he makes when treating patients with primary myelofibrosis and polycythemia vera. Erba explained his treatment decisions for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms based on 2 case scenarios to a group during a <em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives presentation.

Measuring circulating tumor DNA in the blood of patients with advanced MCL may be a viable way to predict how well they will respond to specific therapies, according to study findings reported at the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting.

Danny Rischin, MD,&nbsp;discusses the potential of cemiplimab in patients with cervical cancer. The PD-1 inhibitor cemiplimab demonstrated antitumor activity and a tolerable safety profile as a monotherapy and in combination with&nbsp;hypofractionated radiotherapy for the treatment of&nbsp;patients with metastatic or recurrent cervical cancer.

Based on findings from the phase III ARIEL3 trial, the European Medicines Agency&rsquo;s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has issued a positive opinion recommending an expanded approval for single-agent rucaparib as a maintenance treatment for&nbsp;adult patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed high-grade epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.