Articles

Copenhagen, Denmark—Immunotherapy competition in non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) continued to heat up as atezolizumab (Tecentriq) improved overall survival (OS) versus docetaxel, according to results from the randomized, phase 3 OAK clinical trial reported at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress by Fabrice Barlesi, MD, Professor of Medicine, Aix-Marseille University, France.

Copenhagen, Denmark—Patients with heavily pretreated ALK mutation and non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) had significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) after receiving the next-generation ALK inhibitor ce­ritinib, according to results from the ASCEND-5 study reported at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress by Giorgio Scagliotti, MD, Professor of Respiratory Medicine, University of Torino, Italy.

Copenhagen, Denmark—Patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who lack targetable EGFR or ALK mutations typically receive platinum-based doublet chemotherapy as first-line therapy. Two phase 3 clinical trials presented at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress compared immunotherapy and platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment for ­patients with NSCLC. In KEYNOTE-024, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was superior to chemotherapy in terms of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), whereas in CheckMate-026, nivolu­mab (Opdivo) failed to improve PFS compared with chemotherapy.

Copenhagen, Denmark—In recent years, the personal experience of patients with cancer has been recognized as an important factor in determining the value of a treatment. According to patient-reported outcomes from the CheckMate-141 clinical trial presented at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, patients’ quality of life (QOL) remained stable with the immunotherapy nivolumab (Opdivo), whereas it significantly deteriorated with chemotherapy.

Copenhagen, Denmark—Patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) had a small but significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) but no overall survival (OS) benefit after receiving the multikinase inhibitor nintedanib (Ofev), according to results from the LUME-Colon 1 clinical trial reported by principal investigator Eric Van Cutsem, MD, Clinical Digestive Oncology, University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium, at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress.

Copenhagen, Denmark—A novel approach to targeting the estrogen receptor (ER) led to improved progression-free survival (PFS) in postmenopausal women with advanced, hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer, according to data from the FALCON clinical trial that were reported at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress.

Copenhagen, Denmark—Adjuvant immunotherapy with ipilimumab (Yervoy) led to significant improvement in long-term overall survival (OS) among patients with high-risk melanoma, according to results from a 5.3-year follow-up in a randomized clinical trial reported at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress and published simultaneously online.

Boston, MA—Are we winning the war on cancer? According to Joshua J. Ofman, MD, MSHS, Senior Vice President, Global Value, Access and Policy, Amgen, the answer is yes. Dr Ofman discussed the economics of cancer, including challenges facing insurance providers and ways to impact the rising cost of cancer care, at the War on Cancer forum hosted by The Economist.

San Francisco, CA—For patients with hematologic malignancies, end-of-life care varies but often involves high-intensity interventions as death approaches. According to a recent analysis by Cara L. McDermott, PharmD, PhD, MSc, Senior Fellow, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, and colleagues, these interventions can come with a hefty price tag, too.

San Francisco, CA—In addition to improving quality of care and patient satisfaction, palliative care can also save hospitals millions of dollars, according to a study presented by lead investigator Sarina Isenberg, PhD candidate, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD. The study’s final analysis showed that expanded patient access to palliative care demonstrated substantial savings to the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System and could lead to approximately $20 million in savings in 5 years, said Ms Isenberg at the 2016 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium.