Articles

Neoadjuvant enfortumab vedotin (Padcev) showed promising ­antitumor activity in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) who were ineligible for cisplatin therapy, according to preliminary findings from cohort H of the phase 1b/2 EV-103 clinical trial.

The neoadjuvant combination of avelumab (Bavencio) and axitinib (Inlyta) resulted in a partial response (PR) rate of 30% in ­patients with localized renal-cell carcinoma (RCC) at high risk for relapse after nephrectomy, according to results from the phase 2 NeoAvAx clinical trial.

Adjuvant pembrolizumab (Keytruda) continued to provide a disease-free survival (DFS) benefit in patients with renal-cell carcinoma (RCC) at intermediate-high or high risk of recurrence after nephrectomy, according to 30-month follow-up data from the KEYNOTE-564 trial presented at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

Adoption of biosimilars continues to rise in the United States, but oncologists’ knowledge regarding these agents has not kept pace, according to data presented at the virtual 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Quality Care Symposium.

The development of biosimilar medicines has provided an opportunity for patient utilization of oncology treatments at a lower cost, particularly in individuals for whom biologicals play a predominant role in providing effective therapeutic and supportive care.

The investigational oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) elacestrant (RAD1901) significantly reduced the risk for death or disease progression and improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared with standard-of-care (SOC) endocrine therapy in patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-­positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who had progressed on previous endocrine and targeted therapies, according to results of the phase 3 EMERALD clinical trial.

The International Cholangiocarcinoma Research Network (ICRN) is a program initiated by the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation (CCF).

According to data from a European registry, approximately 1 in 6 patients with cancer who recovered from COVID-19 infection experienced long-term sequelae (ie, “long-haul” COVID-19), placing them at increased risk for death or discontinuation of anticancer treatment.

On March 18, 2022, the FDA approved the combination of 2 distinct immune checkpoint inhibitors, the new LAG-3 antibody relatlimab-rmbw (Opdualag; Bristol Myers Squibb) plus the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo; Bristol Myers Squibb), for patients aged ≥12 years with unresectable or metasta­tic melanoma.

On February 28, 2022, the FDA accelerated the approval of pacritinib (Vonjo; CTI BioPharma), a kinase inhibitor, for the treatment of adult patients with intermediate- or high-risk primary or secondary (postpolycythemia vera or postessential thrombocythemia) myelofibrosis with a platelet count below 50 × 109/L.