December 2017

Survivorship Care: Managing Long-Term Side Effects of Lymphoma Treatment

Corbin Davis

NCCN Hematologic Malignancies News

San Francisco, CA—With 5-year survival rates for Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodg­kin lymphoma (NHL) at 86% and 71%, respectively, the number of lymphoma survivors is on the rise, but achieving long-term quality of life after treatment has ended remains a challenge. Data presented at the 2017 NCCN Hematologic Malignancies Congress reveal that treatment-related side effects cause long-term metabolic, endocrine, physical, and mental alterations that impair functional capacity. [ Read More ]

Anti-IDO1/PD-L1 Combination Active in Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma

Charles Bankhead

Bladder Cancer

Chicago, IL—The activity of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in advanced urothelial cancer appeared to get a boost with the addition of the indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO1) inhibitor epacadostat, results of a preliminary clinical study suggested. [ Read More ]

Angiogenesis Inhibitor Misses Overall Survival Mark in Advanced Head and Neck Carcinoma

Charles Bankhead

Head and Neck Cancer

Chicago, IL—The addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy for recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer failed to improve overall survival (OS) versus chemotherapy alone, despite exceeding pretrial projections, as reported at the 2017 ASCO annual meeting. [ Read More ]

Lenvatinib Noninferior to Sorafenib in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Results from the REFLECT Clinical Trial

Walter Alexander

Liver Cancer

Chicago, IL—Beyond demonstrating noninferiority for overall survival (OS) in advanced, unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), lenvatinib (Lenvima) demonstrated superiority over sorafenib (Nexavar) in progression-free survival (PFS), time to progression, and overall response rate in the REFLECT clinical trial, reported lead investigator Ann-Lii Cheng, MD, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, in an oral presentation at the 2017 ASCO annual meeting. With nearly 745,000 deaths attributed to HCC annually, HCC is the second leading cause of death worldwide, noted Dr Cheng. [ Read More ]