Articles

On October 16, 2018, the FDA approved talazoparib (Talzenna; Pfizer), a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with HER2-­negative, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer and deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA mutation, as identified by an FDA-approved test.

Chicago, IL—So far, 2 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies have been approved by the FDA for some types of relapsed or refractory lymphoma and leukemia. Although CAR T-cell therapy has shown promise in many ­patients who have run out of standard treatment options, it is incredibly ­resource-intense: the complexities of its administration ­require an interdisciplinary approach for success, the side effects can be severe, and its high cost can reach upward of $1 million per course of treatment.

Although the cost of care can have severe effects on patients with cancer and their families, oncologists rarely address financial toxicity, according to Hanna K. Sanoff, MD, MPH, Medical Director, University of North Carolina (UNC) NC Cancer Hospital Clinics.

In a prospective trial, the VEGFR-2 small-molecule inhibitor apatinib has shown promising efficacy and safety signals.

Although the combination of 2 antivascular agents showed preliminary efficacy, increased cardiac toxicity has resulted in premature discontinuation of the trial.

The antibody-drug conjugate mirvetuximab soravtansine combined with pembrolizumab has a manageable safety profile and encouraging signals of clinical activity.

Fatigue and neuropathy were found to be common in patients treated with olaparib, and should be identified and managed early.

A groundbreaking report presented today at ESMO conveyed data from an interim analysis of a phase 2b trial demonstrating that the combination of NPS + trastuzumab is safe and may provide clinically meaningful benefit to women with HER2 low-expressing breast cancer, with a particularly marked benefit in the subgroup with triple-negative breast cancer.

Results from the phase 3 SOLO1 trial demonstrate a substantial, unprecedented improvement in progression-free survival for olaparib versus placebo.