Oncology

Two large studies demonstrating patient-reported outcomes showed that quality of life was maintained longer with newer drug combinations compared with standard of care for the treatment of patients with a specific type of colorectal cancer (CRC) and unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The results were presented at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, California, from January 23-25.

Advances in research and immunotherapy have led to breakthroughs regarding biologics targeting melanoma.

A blood-based screening test using cell-free DNA may be able to identify cancer at earlier stages than what was previously possible, according to research to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, held January 23 to 25 in San Francisco.

Tazemetostat blocks any activity of the EZH2 methyltransferase, which may help keep the cancer cells from further growth.

Pfizer will become the first to launch 3 oncology monoclonal antibody biosimilar treatments to the US market.

The study was the first to examine proton pump inhibitors use in breast cancer survivors.

Margetuximab plus chemotherapy showed positive results in a second pre-specified interim overall survival analysis for the phase 3 SOPHIA study.

The report projects changes in upcoming health care markets, including kidney care, digital health, drug cost transparency, the loneliness epidemic, and the self-care market.

Avapritinib was awarded FDA approval on Jan 9.

The ErbB inhibitors, gefitinib, erbstatin, and tryphostin AG825, inhibit a cell signaling process controlling the death-rate of neutrophils, immune cells, which cause damage to the lungs.

Dawn Hershman, MD, MS, offers some potential treatments for aromatase inhibitor-caused arthralgia in breast cancer patients. This video was filmed at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Belantamab mafodotin has the potential for durable responses in patients with multiple myeloma whose disease has relapsed or is resistant to standard therapies.

Because of the vulnerabilities of CDK4/6i-resistant tumors, researchers believe that it is imperative to improve the survival of this group of patients.

Rita Nanda, MD, discusses various immunotherapy drugs in the pipeline and which she thinks will be approved next. This video was filmed December 11 at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

The rise in value-based reimbursement models has required oncology care providers to assume an unprecedented level of accountability.

The decline in the cancer mortality rate attributed to immunotherapy methods, early detection, and treatment.

After injecting the flu vaccine into a tumor cell, researchers found that the injection either slowed the growth or shrunk the tumor itself.

This medication is the first precision therapy approved to treat a genomically defined population of patients with GIST, according to Blueprint Medicines.

Officials with the FDA have approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda, Merck) for the treatment of certain patients with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-unresponsive, high-risk, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

An effective treatment plan for squamous cell carcinoma best undertaken by a group of practitioners.

Since 2004, the FDA has approved different treatments for advanced prostate cancer, adding almost 2-3 indications per year for the past 15 years.

A study suggests that even brief art-making interventions can be beneficial for stressed caregivers of patients with cancer.

According to the study authors, such “anti-austerity agents” represent a promising approach to cancer chemotherapy.

By entering clinical and disease characteristics into a learning algorithm, researchers were able to create an efficacy prediction for CDK inhibitors.

Abemaciclib is a potent oral cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor that has previously demonstrated statistically significant improvement in PFS and ORR in combination with endocrine therapy.

Rita Nanda, MD, explains how researchers are aiming to make immunologically silent tumors more inflamed. This video was filmed at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Banu Arun, MD, explains the potential risks of passive genetic counseling via videos or at-home tests. This video was filmed December 12 at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Officials with the FDA have approved olaparib (Lynparza, AstraZeneca and Merck) for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm) metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma whose disease has not progressed on at least 16 weeks of a first-line platinum-based chemotherapy regimen.

Researchers may have found a way to stop the driving force at a molecular level behind acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Officials with the FDA have granted accelerated approval to fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (Enhertu, Daiichi-Sankyo) for the treatment of adults with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer that have received 2 or more prior anti-HER2-based regimens in the metastatic setting.