FDA Approvals, News & Updates

Urothelial carcinoma is the primary subtype of bladder cancer, which is the sixth most common cancer in the United States. More than 79,000 cases of bladder cancer were estimated to be diagnosed, and nearly 17,000 people to die from this disease in 2017.

Marginal-zone lymphoma (MZL) arises from B-lymphocytes in the marginal zone of lymphoid tissue. This slow-growing indolent B-cell lymphoma represents approximately 12% of all cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in adults. MZL is divided into 3 subtypes, including mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT), nodal MZL, and splenic MZL. MALT lymphoma is the most common of these subtypes and occurs in the stomach, intestines, salivary glands, thyroid, eyes, and lungs. In MALT lymphoma, autoimmune processes or chronic infection cause B-cells to accumulate. Helicobacter pylori is 1 of at least 6 microbial species associated with lymphoproliferation in gastric MALT lymphoma.

Mantle-cell lymphoma is a rare and fast-growing type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), comprising approximately ≥4% of NHL cases in the United States. Mantle-cell lymphoma most often affects men aged ≥60 years, and the key factors affecting prognosis include the patient’s age, performance status, lactate dehydrogenase levels, and white blood cell count.

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in men and women, and is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 155,000 Americans will die from lung cancer in 2017, representing approximately 25% of all cancer deaths. Non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of the disease, accounts for 80% to 85% of all lung cancer cases.

The cancer drugs included in this review were approved for the first time or received additional approvals by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2017 and are grouped here by several categories.

In 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 46 new drugs, a 21-year high. In addition to these impressive approvals, the first-ever 3 gene therapies were also approved. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, noted that these approvals represent “a whole new scientific paradigm for the treatment of serious diseases.”

The Lynx Group is pleased to bring you the Third Annual Oncology Guide to New FDA Approvals. The goal of this Guide is to offer oncologists, pharmacists, oncology nurses, and other healthcare stakeholders a comprehensive overview of new hematology oncology drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017. This practical tool offers a quick, yet detailed, evidence-based resource for oncology providers to guide their management of patients with cancer.

On September 22, 2017, the FDA granted accelerated approval to nivolumab (Opdivo; Bristol-Myers Squibb) for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)—the most common type of liver cancer—in patients who previously received sorafenib treatment. Opdivo received priority review for this indication.

On November 6, 2017, the FDA approved alectinib (Alecensa; Genentech) for the treatment of patients with ALK mutation–positive, metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as detected by an FDA-approved test. On the same day, the FDA also converted alectinib’s initial accelerated approval to a full approval for the treatment of patients with metastatic NSCLC and ALK mutation whose disease progressed with or who were intolerant of crizotinib (Xalkori).

On October 31, 2017, the FDA granted accelerated approval to acalabrutinib (Calquence; AstraZeneca) for the treatment of adults with mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL) who have received at least 1 previous therapy. The FDA granted acalabrutinib priority review and breakthrough therapy and orphan drug designations for this indication.