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FDA Issues Venetoclax Priority Review as Second-Line Treatment in CLL
January 12th 2016Venetoclax has been granted priority review status by the FDA for use in adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) following at least 1 prior therapy. This patient population includes those with a 17p deletion (del[17p]), according to codevelopers of the BCL-2 inhibitor AbbVie and Genentech.
DNA Repair Defects Vital to PARP Inhibitor's Strength in Prostate Cancer
January 9th 2016A current estimation shows that roughly 25% of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancers (mCRPC) contain alterations in DNA repair genes. These would normally code for proteins to correct errors arising when cells duplicate their DNA before cell division.
Gene Suppressing Some Cancer Types Could Be Lethal in Colorectal Cancer
January 5th 2016A gene associated with the suppression of tumor growth has been found to act in the opposite manner in some forms of colorectal cancer (CRC), according to researchers at the University of Missouri School of Medicine.
CT-Planned, High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy Shows Local Control, Survival Benefit in Cervical Cancer
January 2nd 2016The use of computed-tomography (CT)-planned high-dose-rate (HDR) intracavitary brachytherapy (BT) demonstrated excellent local control (LC) and survival for patients with stage I/II cervical carcinoma.
Checkpoint Inhibitors Could Be the Backbone of Therapy in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
December 30th 2015The programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and PD-1 ligand (PD-L1) inhibitors "are going to disrupt the current treatment paradigm and will likely be the backbone of combination therapy," said Hans J. Hammers, MD, PhD.
New Study Seeks to Assess Tolerability of Emerging Nivolumab Combination
December 29th 2015An upcoming phase I trial seeks to evaluate a combination of interferon gamma-1b (ACTIMMUNE) and nivolumab (Opdivo) in patients with advanced solid tumors who have progressed on at least one prior systemic therapy.
FDA Approves Non-Alcohol Formulation of Docetaxel for Multiple Cancer Types
December 29th 2015The FDA has approved a new treatment consisting of a non-alcohol formulation of docetaxel in patients with breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, gastric adenocarcinoma, and head and neck cancer.
Surprising Findings in Intratumor Heterogeneity Could Impact Cancer Treatment
December 23rd 2015A new study has analyzed intratumoral heterogeneity (ITH) in 12 cancer types and found a "tolerable" level of genomic instability, independent of cancer type, beyond which a cancer may become less aggressive.
New Multimodal Ovarian Cancer Screening Tactic Shows Promise
December 23rd 2015A new method of screening utilizing CA-125 and a risk assessment algorithm could drop risk of mortality from ovarian cancer in certain women, according to findings from the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening.
Further Research Into Checkpoint Blockade for Upper Tract Urothelial Cancers Needed
December 22nd 2015While results from ongoing trials with atezolizumab, pembrolizumab, nivolumab, and avelumab in bladder cancer are eagerly awaited, there is one subset of patients who require special attention - patients with upper tract urothelial cancer (UTUC).
European Commission Approves T-VEC for Unresectable Metastatic Melanoma
December 22nd 2015Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC; Imlygic) has been approved by the European Comission as a treatment for adult patients with unresectable stage IIIb, IIIc, and IVM1a melanoma that has not spread to the bone, brain, lung, or other viscera, based on the phase III OPTiM study.
Pembrolizumab Gains Two New Indications in Advanced Melanoma
December 21st 2015Expanded approval for single-agent pembrolizumab (Keytruda) has arrived from the FDA to include frontline treatment for advanced melanoma regardless of BRAF status, based on a substantial improvement in progression-free and overall survival compared with ipilimumab (Yervoy) in the phase III KEYNOTE-006 trial
Advanced Prostate Cancer Clinics Begin to Mesh With Practices
December 18th 2015Urologists face a challenge in delineating the optimal sequence of treatment more and more as the goal for treating prostate cancer moves toward greater use of targeted therapies. While these treatment eradicate disease, urologists must minimize the risk of adverse events.
Tumor Treating Fields Device Shows Survival Advantage
December 18th 2015Patients with newly-diagnosed glioblastoma who received treatment with tumor- treating electrical fields in addition to temozolomide had nearly double the two-year survival of those who received temozolomide alone, according to an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Pregnancy Disproved as Potential Trigger for Relapse in Hodgkin Lymphoma Survivors
December 17th 2015Researchers discovered that pregnancy while in remission of Hodgkin lymphoma does not increase the risk of cancer relapse, making this report the first largest study to specifically examine the impacts of pregnancy as a potential trigger for relapse in Hodgkin lymphoma survivors.
Decision on Rociletinib for NSCLC Delayed by FDA
December 17th 2015The review period for rociletinib for EGFR T790M-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been extended by the FDA by 3 months. The extension allows ample time to review additional data submitted by the drug's developer, Clovis Oncology.
Novel Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer May Allow for Resection of the Unresectable
December 16th 2015The phase III PILLAR trial studying the novel immunotherapy, algenpantucel-L combined with chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced, unresectable pancreatic cancer, has completed enrollment with over 300 patients.