On March 2, 2020, the FDA approved isatuximab-irfc (Sarclisa; Sanofi- Aventis), a CD38-directed cytolytic antibody, for the treatment of adults with multiple myeloma, for use in combination with pomalidomide (Pomalyst) and dexamethasone, in patients who had received at least 2 therapies that include lenalidomide (Revlimid) and a proteasome inhibitor. The FDA granted isatuximab an orphan drug designation.
San Francisco, CA—MicroRNAs have all the characteristics to be a potential game changer as a biomarker in germcell tumors (originating in the testes, ovaries, and a few other sites), with high sensitivity, specificity, and clinical validity in pilot studies, said Lucia Nappi, MD, PhD, Medical Oncologist, British Columbia Cancer, Vancouver Centre, Canada, at the 2020 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.
San Francisco, CA—Combining cabozantinib (Cabometyx) with atezolizumab (Tecentriq) induced responses in 32% of patients with metastatic castration- resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) who had soft-tissue progression after previous novel hormonal therapy.
On March 27, 2020, the FDA approved a new indication for the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab (Imfinzi; Astra- Zeneca), in combination with etoposide and either carboplatin or cisplatin, as first-line treatment of patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). Imfinzi was previously approved by the FDA for the treatment of patients with metastatic urothelial cancer and for patients with unresectable, stage III non–small-cell lung cancer. The FDA granted durvalumab an orphan drug designation for this new indication.
San Francisco, CA—Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), a type of biliary tract cancer, is a rare malignancy, with no FDA-approved medications specifically for this type of cancer. The current standard first-line treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic CCA is a chemotherapy combination of gemcitabine and cisplatin.
In January 2020, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) issued a major update to its Patient-Centered Oncology Payment (PCOP) model, an alternative payment model “designed to support transformation in cancer care delivery and reimbursement while ensuring that patients with cancer have access to high-quality, high-value care,” according to a statement from ASCO.
San Francisco, CA—Platinum-based therapy represents a new standard of care in patients with pancreatic cancer and germline BRCA or PALB2 mutation, based on data reported at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. The findings were published simultaneously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (O’Reilly EM, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2020 Jan 24. Epub ahead of print).
San Francisco, CA—The combination of encorafenib (Braftovi) plus cetuximab (Erbitux), with or without binimetinib (Mektovi), improved the quality of life based on patient-reported assessments better than current standard of care in the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) and BRAF V600E mutation, according to the BEACON CRC study, which was presented at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.