ASCO 2015 Highlights

In patients with early-stage, nonbulky Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), overall survival (OS) was superior at 12 years in patients who received standard chemotherapy compared with radiotherapy in a study conducted by the National Cancer Institute of Canada's Clinical Trials Group and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.

San Diego, CA—Venous thromboembolism (VTE) occurs in 1% of hematologic malignancies and can lead to fatal pulmonary emboli, postthrombotic syndromes, bleeding as a result of anticoagulant treatment, and recurrent VTE.

A review of treatment patterns for higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) shows growing use of lenalidomide, despite the lack of phase 3 survival data supporting this approach, according to research conducted at the Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, in collaboration with Xcenda, a research and consulting firm.

San Diego, CA—Only 30% of cryoprecipitate was used in accordance with established guidelines in a tertiary care center, in a study presented at ASH 2011 by researchers from Beth Israel Medical Center, Newark, NJ.

Specialty pharmacies are facing specific challenges in the ways they interact with payers, providers, and even with the pharmaceutical industry in relation to access and delivery of cancer drugs.

We conducted a literature search for data supporting same-day chemotherapy administration sequences. This was achieved by searching PubMed using keywords and any combination of the drug name with "administration," "sequencing," or "interactions."

Basal-cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC), commonly referred to as non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs), are the most common types of cancers in the United States. These 2 cancers account for approximately 2 million cases of skin cancer annually.

The US Food and Drug Admini­s­tration (FDA) approved a new indication for imatinib (Gleevec; Novartis) for the treatment of children with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome–positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common type of pediatric cancer.

The FDA has issued a boxed warning for brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris, Seattle Genetics) related to the risk of John Cunningham virus infec­tion, leading to progressive multifocal leu­ko­­encephalopathy (PML) and death in patients who take brentuximab to treat Hodgkin lymphoma or systemic anaplastic large-cell lymphoma.

The FDA has accepted a New Drug Application (NDA) for bosutinib (Pfizer), an oral dual Src and Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitor, as a second-line therapy for adult patients with previously treated Philadelphia chromosome–positive (Ph+) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).