Articles

Ensuring access to clinical trials to all patients is important not only to ensure equal access to care but also to make sure that clinical trial results can be generalized to all patients in the real-world setting. For the first time, a team of British researchers has recently investigated this question, revealing important implications for healthcare stakeholders (Noor AM, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2012;31:224-230).

Boston, MA—Researchers believe they are closing in on a better way to identify breast cancers that are particularly dangerous and therefore require more aggressive therapy.

For the prevention of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE), rivaroxaban (Xarelto) appears to be more cost-effective than warfarin (Coumadin), an independent analysis undertaken by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine showed.

Atlanta, GA—Support for the oral immunomodulatory agent pomalidomide for the treatment of multiple myeloma took a giant step forward when new data from the phase 3 MM-003 trial showed a survival advantage in patients with advanced disease.

Atlanta, GA—Promising preliminary results for oprozomib (ONX 0912), an orally available structural analogue of carfilzomib (Kyprolis), were presented at the 2012 American Society of Hematology meeting.

Atlanta, GA—MLN9708, an investigational oral proteasome inhibitor, produced impressive results in a phase 1/2 clinical trial of treatment-naïve patients with multiple myeloma that was featured in a press briefing at the 2012 American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting.

A study using real-world data for patients with tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) showed that treatment with rasburicase (Elitek) was associated with significantly greater reductions in uric acid, length of hospital stay, and total hospitalization costs per patient compared with allopurinol (Zyloprim).

Atlanta, GA—The investigational agent ibrutinib, which is making news in the treatment of patients with leukemia, demonstrated “unprecedented” single-agent activity in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL), according to the lead author of an international phase 2 study that was reported at the 2012 American Society of Hematology meeting.

Atlanta, GA—A chemotherapy-free regimen for patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) achieved a 2-year survival of almost 100% with less toxicity compared with cytotoxic regimens, according to a study reported at the 2012 American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting.

Atlanta, GA—The promise of regenerative medicine is exemplified by the regeneration of corneal epithelium from human limbal stem-cell culture.