Articles

Orlando, FL—Clinical trials involving immunotherapy have increased in the past few years, and the oncology community is eagerly awaiting the results. However, not so well-known is what happens to patients who receive immunotherapy outside of the clinical trial setting, including those who are not eligible for clinical trials.

Orlando, FL—One cycle of the bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP) regimen had less toxicity and was as effective as 2 cycles in patients with high-risk, nonseminomatous or germ-cell tumors of the testis (NSGCTT), according to results of a large prospective trial called 111 presented at the 2017 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. Using 1 cycle of BEP as standard of care would reduce exposure to toxicity, and most patients with testicular cancer are relatively young.

National Harbor, MD—Results of a phase 1/2 study that investigated 2 dosing regi­mens of 2 immunotherapies—the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) plus the CTLA-4 inhibitor ipilimumab (Yervoy)—in patients with previously treated metastatic urothelial carcinoma showed higher response rates and longer median overall survival with the regimen of nivolumab 1 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 3 mg/kg than with the dosing of nivolu­mab 3 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 1 mg/kg.

National Harbor, MD—The investigational CD137 agonist urelumab, given as monotherapy and in combination with the anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibody nivolumab, demonstrated safety and, in some patients with hematologic and solid tumor malignancies, promising antitumor activity, according to results of 2 early-phase studies presented at the 2016 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer annual meeting.

Orlando, FL—A conditioning regimen before autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplant (HSCT) consisting of carfilzomib (Kyprolis) plus high-dose melphalan can help sustain post­transplant remission in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who respond to transplant.

San Francisco, CA—Adding vemurafenib (Zelboraf) to cetuximab (Erbitux) and irinotecan (Camptosar) prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) and improved the disease control rate in patients with BRAF V600E mutation–positive colorectal cancer (CRC).

San Francisco, CA—The addition of cisplatin to standard therapy with gemci­tabine and nab-paclitaxel was associated with a median overall survival (OS) that “has not been seen in stage IV pancreatic cancer,” according to Gayle Jameson, MSN, ACNP-BC, Nurse Practitioner Investigator of Clinical Trials, HonorHealth Research Institute, Scottsdale, AZ, who reported the results from a phase 1b single-arm pilot study using the triplet at the 2017 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

San Francisco, CA—Starting at a low dose of sorafenib (Nexavar) and titrating up to the full dose of 800 mg, rather than starting the full dose, does not adversely affect outcomes, while improving tolerability and reducing costs in the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This was the conclusion from a review of 4900 veterans diagnosed with HCC who were prescribed sorafenib at Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals.

Chicago, IL—Escalating drug prices have put value frameworks in the spotlight, and the identification of the key questions and the audience addressed in each value framework is vital to understanding the value landscape, said Kasia Shields, PharmD, MBA, BCOP, BCPS, Director, Medical Communications, Xcenda/AmerisourceBergen, at the 2016 Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association Oncology Pharmacy Practice Management Program.