April 2023, Vol 14, No 2

An analysis from the ARASENS trial showed that the addition of darolutamide to androgen-deprivation therapy and docetaxel significantly improved overall survival in subgroups of patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer with high-volume and high-risk disease and should be considered the new standard of care for this patient population.

First-line standard of care for patients with advanced cholangiocarcinoma has evolved from a chemotherapy-only regimen with gemcitabine/cisplatin to include the immune checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab based on results from TOPAZ-1 showing that the addition of durvalumab improved progression-free survival and overall survival compared with GemCis alone.

The results of a recent survey commissioned by AccessOne, which focused on healthcare affordability and the impact of rising costs of living, revealed that the majority (71%) of consumers feel that inflation is having a significant effect on their healthcare purchasing decisions or their ability to pay medical bills.

On March 22, 2023, the FDA granted accelerated approval to retifanlimab-dlwr (Zynyz; Incyte Corporation), a programmed cell death 1–blocking antibody, for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced Merkel-cell carcinoma.

On March 16, 2023, the FDA approved dabrafenib (Tafinlar; Novartis) in combination with trametinib (Mekinist; Novartis) for the treatment of pediatric patients aged ≥1 year with low-grade glioma that harbors a BRAF ^V600E mutation and who require systemic therapy.

On March 3, 2023, the FDA approved abemaciclib (Verzenio; Eli Lilly) plus endocrine therapy (tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor) for the adjuvant treatment of adult patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative, node-positive, early breast cancer at high risk for recurrence.

On February 9, 2023, the FDA approved dostarlimab-gxly (Jemperli; GlaxoSmithKline) for the treatment of adult patients with mismatch repair-deficient, recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer, as determined by an FDA-approved test, whose disease has progressed on or following a previous platinum-containing regimen in any setting and who are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation.

On February 3, 2023, the FDA approved sacituzumab govitecan-hziy (Trodelvy; Gilead Sciences/Immunomedics) for the treatment of patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative (immunohistochemistry [IHC] 0, IHC 1+, or IHC 2+ with a negative in situ hybridization test) breast cancer who have received endocrine-based therapy and at least 2 additional systemic therapies in the metastatic setting.

Young women with early-stage, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer attempting to become pregnant can safely pause endocrine therapy and resume it later, according to initial results from the international POSITIVE trial.

During the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, a panel of experts identified some of the key challenges to achieving health equity in bladder cancer care and discussed what can be done to improve access to clinical trials, mitigate financial toxicity, and promote value-based care.