ASCO 2015 Highlights

Stockholm, Sweden—The indefinite use of bevacizumab (Avastin) in patients with re lapsed ovarian cancer got another boost at the 2011 European Multi disciplinary Cancer Congress, with a subanalysis of the phase 3 OCEANS trial showing consistent benefit across subgroups.

Stockholm, Sweden—Two expensive drugs may be better than 1 for maintenance treatment of advanced non– small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress.

Stockholm, Sweden—An investigational alpha-pharmaceutical not only prevented skeletal-related events (SREs) in patients with prostate cancer with bone metastases in a phase 3 study presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress, but it also improved overall survival.

The FDA expedited the approval of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris, Seattle Genetics) for the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma, as well as for systemic anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL), a rare non-Hodgkin lymphoma that may manifest in several parts of the body, including the lymph nodes, skin, bones, soft tissue, lungs, and liver.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the targeted therapy vemurafenib tablets (Zelboraf, Hoffmann-La Roche) for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic mela noma with the BRAF V600E gene mutation.

On September 26, 2011, the FDA issued an approvable letter to Mela Sciences, the manufacturer of MelaFind, an investigational diagnostic device for early melanoma.

In a new study funded by the National Cancer Institute and the University of Michigan Clinical Research Center, inexpensive ginger supplements reduced markers of colon inflammation, indicating that ginger root may be beneficial in preventing colon cancer (Zick SM, et al. Cancer Prev Res [Phila]. 2011 Oct 11. Epub ahead of print).