Web Exclusives

Patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) have a high relapse rate and poor outcome after standard treatment. Capecitabine (Xeloda), a chemotherapy that has been used widely in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, is a potential maintenance treatment option for the prevention of TNBC recurrence based on results of a recent study.

David DeRemer, PharmD, BCOP, FCCP, FHOPA, Clinical Associate Professor, University of Florida College of Pharmacy, shares insights about cancer drugs and COVID-19 in this interview that followed a segment of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care (AVBCC) webinar series COVID-19 Recovery, the Road Ahead, in which he recently took part.

On June 10, 2020, the FDA accelerated the approval of a new indication for nivolumab (Opdivo; Bristol Myers Squibb), a PD-1 inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with unresectable advanced, recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma after fluoropyrimidine-based and platinum-based chemotherapy. Nivolumab has been previously approved for many indications, but this is its first indication for esophageal cancer.

On June 15, 2020, the FDA accelerated the approval of lurbinectedin (Zepzelca; Jazz Pharma/Pharma Mar), an intravenous alkylating drug, for the treatment of adults with metastatic small-cell lung cancer that has progressed during or after platinum-based chemotherapy. The FDA granted lurbinectedin an orphan drug designation for this indication.

San Francisco, CA—Reducing pain without increasing the use of opioids is feasible in patients with advanced cancer, according to the results of a retrospective analysis presented at the 2019 ASCO Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium. Among the 300 patients seen by an inpatient palliative care team, 50% of patients achieved clinically improved pain control without an increase in oral morphine-equivalent daily dose.

San Francisco, CA—If you know someone who has cancer, reaching out could be the medicine he or she needs. According to data presented at the 2019 ASCO Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium, increased social support may function as an analgesic that helps to mitigate one of the most common symptoms experienced by patients with cancer—pain.

San Francisco, CA—Although there is a biological rationale that supports the “abscopal” effects of radiation therapy plus checkpoint immunotherapy in fighting cancer, this combination showed mixed results and no robust effects in patients with metastatic renal-cell carcinoma (RCC), according to results of 2 preliminary studies presented at the 2020 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

On May 29, 2020, the FDA approved ramucirumab (Cyramza; Eli Lilly) in combination with erlotinib (Tarceva) for first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletions or exon 21 (L858R) mutations. Ramucirumab was previously approved for several types of cancer, including, in combination with docetaxel, for metastatic NSCLC, after platinum-based chemotherapy.

On May 26, 2020, the FDA approved nivolumab (Opdivo; BMS) and ipilimumab (Yervoy; BMS) plus chemotherapy as first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic squamous or nonsquamous non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), regardless of PD-L1 expression, and with no EGFR or ALK aberrations. On May 15, the FDA approved nivolumab plus ipilimumab as first-line treatment of metastatic NSCLC with PD-L1 ≥1% expression.

On May 29, 2020, the FDA approved the immunotherapy atezolizumab (Tecentriq; Genentech), a PD-L1 inhibitor, in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin; Genentech), a vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have not received systemic therapy. This is the first immunotherapy regimen approved by the FDA for this type of HCC.