Specialty Pharmacy

The results of an additional secondary endpoint from the phase 3 HERO study evaluating oral relugolix in men with advanced prostate cancer showed that relugolix had a similar rate of castration resistance-free survival compared to intravenous leuprolide acetate in men with metastatic disease through 48 weeks.

The FDA has approved mepolizumab for the treatment of hypereosinophilic syndrome.

Pregnancy may help put off the onset of multiple sclerosis symptoms by more than 3 years.

Using a 3D model, investigators found a soy-based compound was effective in treating bone cancer.

At ESMO 2020, researchers discussed some long-awaited data regarding postoperative radiotherapy used in patients with non-small cell lung cancer following complete resection and after (neo) adjuvant chemotherapy.

New drug application been submitted for TLX591-CDx (illumet), a radiopharmaceutical product that targets prostate-specific membrane antigen for the imaging of prostate cancer.

Among patients with cervical cancer, there was no significant difference found between the risk of recurrence, local recurrence, or death among individuals who either completed or abandoned a radical uterine procedure following the intraoperative detection of a positive pelvic lymph node.

Top news of the week from Pharmacy Times®.

The FDA has granted fast track designation to DKN-01 for the treatment of patients with gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma whose tumors have high DKK1 expression.

Study shows that upon hospital admission for cancer, many patients already have a high prevalence of malnutrition per Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition criteria.

The results from a cohort of patients with rare sarcomas in the phase 2 study, presented by professor Jean-Yves Blay, MD, investigated the efficacy and safety of single agent pembrolizumab in rare cancers.

A new study showed that nivolumab was effective in patients with pathogenic exonuclease domain POLE mutated mismatch repair.

The effects of pralsentinib were especially pronounced in treatment-naïve patients with medullary thyroid cancer.

The predictive value provided by T effector and angiogenesis signatures were found to be augmented by Kidney Immune Classification of tumor microenvironments.

Although immune checkpoint inhibitors are not yet approved for first-line therapy in these populations, the new research could lead to a new standard of care.

Adding atezolizumab (Tecentriq) to bevacizumab (Avastin) and chemotherapy failed to significantly improve progression-free survival in patients with newly diagnosed stage III/IV ovarian cancer.

More than half of high-risk patients with resected, stage III BRAF V600-mutated melanoma who were treated with dabrafenib and trametinib were alive and relapse-free at 5 years.

The COVID-19 pandemic will be felt in the oncology space long after the pandemic is over, study shows.

The CheckMate 9ER trial took 2 drugs used as monotherapies in the second line of therapy, nivolumab and cabozantinib, and combined them for use as a first-line treatment against standard of care, sunitinib.

More targeted therapies often have better toxicity profiles, allowing patients to remain adherent for longer.

Lenvatinib (Lenvima) plus pembrolizumab (Keytruda) showed early antitumor activity and tolerability in previously treated triple-negative breast cancer patients with advanced solid tumors.

Trial shows that olaparib, a poly ADP ribose polymerase inhibitor that is the first cancer drug to target an inherited genetic fault, can be used successfully to treat prostate cancers with a weakness in the ability to repair damaged DNA.

Adding abemaciclib to hormonal therapy reduces the risk of cancer recurrence by 25% in patients with high-risk early hormone receptor-positive human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative breast cancer.

Recent studies have analyzed how individuals with autoimmune conditions prescribed specialty medications may be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Digital health tools were a major theme during the first-ever NASP Challenge, comprising 4 of the 5 finalists.

September has been designated as National Sickle Cell Awareness Month for the continued fostering of education surrounding sickle cell disease management.

There were a number of FDA approvals in 2019 that were either the first new therapies or first in class approved for certain conditions, and the specialty pipeline is continuing to grow at a rapid pace.

Technology can help revolutionize how a pharmacy manages patients, collects payments, communicates, and can improve overall efficiency.