Articles

Chicago, IL—Providing relief from the symptoms and stress of serious illness can significantly reduce the cost of care in addition to improving the patient experience.

Chicago, IL—In patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, the addition of daratumumab to carfilzomib (Kyprolis), lenalidomide (Revlimid), and dexamethasone (ie, the KRd regimen) is showing promise as a frontline treatment regimen. According to the results of an open-label, phase 1b study presented at ASCO 2017, induction therapy with the KRd regimen was well-tolerated, and the overall safety profile was consistent with previous reports for KRd, with no additional toxicity observed with the addition of daratumumab. Moreover, the study investigators reported that the regimen was very effective, with 100% overall response rate observed.

Chicago, IL—The era of immunotherapy in multiple myeloma is near. Two presentations at ASCO 2017 demonstrated that cellular therapy can steer immune reconstitution against multiple myeloma.

Chicago, IL—The results from 2 studies should advance the use of abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) to the frontline treatment of patients with hormone-sensitive advanced prostate cancer, effectively replacing chemotherapy, said several experts at the 2017 ASCO annual meeting.

Chicago, IL—Immunotherapy holds promise as second-line or third-line treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, a rare cancer with increasing incidence. Early findings from the ongoing, phase 2 MAPS-2 clinical trial showed that immunotherapy slowed the growth of malignant pleural mesothelioma after relapse, reported lead investigator Arnaud Scherpereel, MD, PhD, Head, Pulmonary and Thoracic Oncology Department, University Hospital of Lille, France, at the 2017 ASCO annual meeting. MAPS-2 is the largest clinical trial to date of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

A brief overview of new therapies approved by the FDA between August 1 and August 7, 2017.

Chicago, IL—The tumor types amenable to immunotherapy with the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) keep expanding and now include sarcoma, which has been difficult to treat.

Chicago, IL—Survival with the use of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) approved for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase is comparable among the available drugs, so other variables should come into play when selecting a specific TKI. In some instances, a treatment-free remission is possible, said CML experts at the 2017 ASCO annual meeting.

Chicago, IL—A new high-intensity genomic sequencing strategy (developed by Grail Inc) detects circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) at a high rate. The new approach is a major improvement on previous tests using ctDNA, which focus on a limited number of driver mutations to inform treatment strategies for metastatic disease or to monitor disease burden. The new test offers ultra-deep sequencing with a broad genomic coverage, but it is not ready for prime time to detect occult cancer. At present, the test is a research platform and is not commercially available.

Chicago, IL—Oral cediranib, an investigational vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor, in combination with a poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor or with chemotherapy, shows survival benefit in women with relapsed platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer, according to data from 2 studies presented at the 2017 ASCO annual meeting.