News

While the United States Preventative Services Task Force has taken a stand against routine prostate-specific antigen screening for prostate cancer, updated findings from the landmark Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovary screening trial could flip opinions.

Daratumumab (Darzalex) has been granted a breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA for use in the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma following at least 1 prior therapy. The CD38-targeted antibody is accepted for use in combination with lenalidomide/dexamethasone or bortezomib/dexamethasone, according to Janssen, which is developing daratumumab with Genmab.

Although paradigms for treating older patients with head and neck cancer are not well defined, advancements in targeted and immunotherapies and less toxic radiation regimens suggest that physicians can aim for a more individualized approach to treating this patient population.

The phase III ARMOR 3-SV trial for prostate cancer was not likely to meet its primary endpoint of radiographic progression-free survival (PFS) improvement, the trial’s independent data monitoring committee (DMC) decided, leading to the trial’s discontinuation, according to the manufacturer Tokai Pharmaceuticals.

A study of apalutamide (ARN-509) in patients with high-risk, localized, or locally advanced prostate cancer who are receiving primary radiation therapy is hoping to reduce the risk of metastasis and death from prostate cancer for these high-risk patients, according to the study’s global principal investigator, Howard M. Sandler, MD.

There have been limited successes made in immunotherapy in the treatment of patients with prostate cancer so far, but progress is being made, explains Akash Patnaik, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago Medicine.

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended the approval of pegylated liposomal irinotecan in combination with fluorouracil and leucovorin for patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma following progression on a gemcitabine-based therapy.

Radium-223 dichloride has proved to be a game-changer in the radiopharmaceutical scene, specifically with the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Survivors of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) produce antibodies that kill leukemia cells following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) that can be used to treat other patients with AML.

Patients with chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) can safely conclude treatment of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) following a maintained deep molecular remission, according to findings from the large EURO-SKI trial presented at the 2016 European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress.

Final data from a phase III trial of CPX-351 (Vyxeos) in older patients with high-risk, secondary acute myeloid leukemia (AML) revealed that CPX-351 reduced the mortality risk by 31% compared with cytarabine and daunorubicin (7+3), according to findings presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is associated with an exceptional overall response rate (ORR) in patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma.

Phase III results of the KRISTINE trial demonstrated that patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer had a significantly higher pathological complete response (pCR) rate when they received the neoadjuvant regimen of docetaxel, carboplatin, and trastuzumab plus pertuzumab (TCH+P) versus trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) plus pertuzumab (T-DM1+P).  

The FDA has agreed to review nivolumab under an accelerated timeframe for its potential as a treatment for patients with previously treated metastatic or recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

IMAB362, a novel chimeric IgG1 backbone antibody highly specific for CLDN18.2, extended median overall survival by 4.8 months when added to standard chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Understanding how gastric and esophageal cancers are triggered and their genetic makeup is vital to developing and testing new therapies.

Pre-operative chemotherapy alone in esophageal cancer may not be the best choice for patients undergoing resection.

The FDA has granted nivolumab a breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of patients with resectable locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma after the failure of a platinum-containing regimen.

The PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab demonstrated an objective response rate of 46% for patients with high PD-L1-expressing advanced urothelial bladder cancer.

The recent FDA approval of atezolizumab was a significant milestone for the second-line treatment of locally advanced bladder cancer, with even greater potential still on the horizon for the PD-L1 agent.

Targeting the androgen receptor pathway in patients with castration-sensitive prostate cancer is a key component of treatment.

Sunitinib extended disease-free survival versus placebo as an adjuvant therapy for patients with renal cell carcinoma at high risk of recurrence in the phase III S-TRAC trial.

Bone metastases in castration-resistant prostate cancer create a significant problem. Prostate cancer represents 21% of all new cancer cases in men and is the second most common cause of cancer death among American men after lung cancer.

The FDA has approved a lighter and more convenient version of the Optune system for patients with glioblastoma multiforme.

Adding temozolomide to short-course radiotherapy after surgery in elderly patients with glioblastoma boosted overall survival by nearly 2 months, bringing 1-year survival rates up from 22.2% to 37.8%.

A novel antiangiogenic gene therapy, added to bevacizumab, led to significantly better overall survival in recurrent glioblastoma multiforme compared with historical patients treated with bevacizumab alone.

An immunotherapy/antiangiogenesis combination proved to be safe and tolerable for patients with recurrent glioblastoma.

For patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma that has recurred following surgery or radiation therapy, the hedgehog/smoothened inhibitors sonidegib and vismodegib have both shown significant benefit.

For patients with NRAS-mutant melanoma who progress following treatment with an immunotherapy agent, the MEK inhibitor binimetinib offers a promising option.

The FDA has approved the cobas HPV Test for use with SurePath Preservative Fluid for the detection of human papilloma virus in cervical cells. SurePath is one of the two approved liquid collection fluids commonly used for Pap tests.