Oncology

Current guideline recommendations include various combinations of targeted therapy with immunotherapy.

The Independent Data Monitoring Committee concluded that DESTINY-Breast03 met the primary endpoint of progression-free survival and showed a highly statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement for patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive, unresectable and/or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with trastuzumab and a taxane.

A number of prescription medications are indicated for the treatment of this aggressive disease.

Polatuzumab vedotin regimen is the first in 2 decades to show such significant improvements.

The investigators found that the combination of cemiplimab-rwlc and chemotherapy resulted in a substantial improvement in OS compared to chemotherapy alone for patients with metastatic or locally advanced disease and tumors with either squamous or non-squamous histology and across all programmed death-ligand 1 expression levels.

Asparaginase erwinia chrysanthemi (recombinant)-rywn) (Rylaze) is approved for use as a component of a chemotherapy regimen for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoblastic lymphoma

BCC is the most common form of skin cancer and is typically treated with surgical excision. However, excision can be a costly and burdensome treatment, especially for patients with multiple BCC lesions, according to the study.

Plinabulin is a selective immunomodulating microtubule-binding agent (SIMBA), which is an antigen presenting cell (APC) inducer.

According to the investigators, the findings demonstrate that a 5-day regimen of stereotactic body radiotherapy, a form of external beam radiation therapy that uses a higher dose of radiation, had a 4-year cure rate of 82%.

According to a press release from Roche, the FDA is reviewing the company’s Biologics License Application under the Real-Time Oncology Review pilot program, which aims to explore a more efficient review process to ensure safe and effective treatments are available to patients as early as possible.

This month, I thought it would be beneficial to share a handful of examples from among the many Next Generation Pharmacist-nominated candidates.

MDM2 inhibitors and BET inhibitors, which show limited efficacy against acute myeloid leukemia (AML) as monotherapies, are potent against AML when used in combination, according to a study published in Nature Communications.

The OVATION 2 study combines GEN-1 with standard-of-care neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in patients newly diagnosed with stage 3 and 4 ovarian cancer.

In a study, median OS times for patients reporting such fatigue were approximately 26% to 45% shorter than those for patients without baseline fatigue.

Pharmacy Times interviewed Craig Freyer, PharmD, BCOP, and Andrew Lin, PharmD, BCOP, to discuss how to manage the logistical challenges that arise during the administration of CAR T therapy in inpatient and outpatient settings for patients with multiple myeloma.

The American Cancer Society estimates that oncologists will diagnose about 34,920 new cases of multiple myeloma in 2021 with about 12,410 deaths expected to occur.

As treatments for lung cancer move forward and patient care services continue to expand, the role of the pharmacist in oncology is critical.

Sarah Cannon and Pontchartrain Cancer Center will join the esteemed program.

Investigators estimated that globally, 4.1% of all new cancer diagnoses in 2020 were attributable to alcohol consumption.

A decrease in cancer-associated macrophage-like cells was associated with an approximately 300% increase in mean progression-free survival.

Chad Hatfield, PharmD, MHA, BCPS, chief pharmacy officer at UC Davis Medical Center, discusses how data points used in oncology pharmacy practice and how it is collected.

The open label trial was available to patients 18 years of age and older with relapsed or refractory DLBCL after 2 or more lines of treatment.

AQP-modulating agent discovery has proved challenging, but many powerful AQP3 permeating molecules have been identified.

Pembrolizumab demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in OS for patients whose tumors expressed PD-L1 with a combined positive score ≥10 compared to chemotherapy alone, according to the study.

The combination of pembrolizumab and chemotherapy marks the first immunotherapy regimen approved for patients with high-risk early-stage triple-negative breast cancer.

Pharmacy Times interviewed Craig Freyer, PharmD, BCOP, and Andrew Lin, PharmD, BCOP, to discuss the updates in the prevention and treatment of cytokine release syndrome and neurologic toxicities for patients with multiple myeloma.

According to the investigators, treatment with ruxolitinib resulted in a significant improvement in ORR after 24 weeks, with an ORR of 49.7% in the ruxolitinib arm compared to 25.6% in the best available therapy arm.

The research team noted that although HCL has a good prognosis for the majority of patients, a small population will develop variants of the disease do not respond well to existing FDA-approved therapies or cannot tolerate the adverse effects of established therapies.