Web Exclusives

On April 6, 2018, rucaparib (Rubraca; Clovis Oncology), a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, received a new indication by the FDA for the maintenance treatment of patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who achieved complete or partial response with platinum-based chemotherapy.

On April 18, 2018, the FDA approved osimertinib (Tagrisso; AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals) as first-line treatment for patients with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R mutations, as detected by an FDA-approved test. The FDA used its priority review process, and designated osimertinib as a breakthrough therapy for this indication.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors have changed the treatment landscape for many cancer types. These immunomodulatory antibodies target the PD-1, PD-L1, and CTLA-4 pathways to help restore immune responses against tumors.

San Francisco, CA—The immunotherapy combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) provides durable clinical benefit in patients with previously treated DNA mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR)/microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC).

In a January 3, 2018, statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, the FDA announced new steps to promote generic drug competition as a way to expand potential access to inexpensive medicines, which would be especially helpful for patients with cancer. These new steps are a part of the FDA’s ongoing implementation of the Drug Competition Action Plan.