In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology </em>at the 19<sup>th</sup>Annual International Lung Cancer Congress, Bunn, professor in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, discussed the potential approaches with neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapies for curing patients with lung cancer. He also shares his own opinions on which approaches might be best.
In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Panagiotis A. Konstantinopoulos, MD, director of Translational Research, Gynecologic Oncology Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, discussed the findings from the TOPACIO trial for patients with platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. He also highlights the outlook for immunotherapy in gynecologic cancers and what the next steps are moving forward.
In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Paul G. Richardson, MD, clinical program leader and director of Clinical Research in the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discussed the results from the OPTIMISMM trial. He also shared his insight on the significance of these findings and what he expects to see in the future for this patient population.
Jacqueline D. Barrientos, MD, MS, discusses the current treatment landscape for CLL. She also highlights some of the biggest challenges for physicians and gave her insight on how to move forward in the field.
Alexander Drilon, MD, discusses the data currently available with targeting gene fusions, and shares insight into what is on the horizon in this area.
Romyelocel-L (human myeloid progenitor cells) has been granted a Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy designation by the FDA for the prevention of bacterial and fungal infections in patients with acute myeloid leukemia undergoing induction chemotherapy, according to Cellerant Therapeutics, Inc, the manufacturer of the therapy. RMAT designation holds similar advantages to breakthrough therapy designation.
The first patient has been dosed in a phase I/II open-label, multicenter trial investigating a novel immunotherapy combination in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. Fifty patients have been accrued in the trial, as of May 31, 2018, which will be conducted at 25 sites across the nation.
The FDA approved several indications in the month of June, including venetoclax (Venclexta) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic leukemia (SLL), the combination of binimetinib (Mektovi) plus encorafenib (Braftovi) in melanoma, and bevacizumab (Avastin) in ovarian cancer. The FDA also accelerated approvals for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in cervical cancer and in primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, while also granting a priority review to glasdegib for acute myeloid leukemia.
Alexander Drilon, MD, discusses findings from the phase I LIBRETTO-001 study on the safety of LOXO-292 for the treatment of patients with RET-altered cancers.
Joseph F. Renzulli Jr, MD, an expert in robotic surgery for treating urologic cancers, is joining Lawrence and Memorial Hospital, an affiliate of Yale New Haven Health, in New London, Connecticut. He brings a specialized insight on diagnosing and treating prostate cancer to the growing team.
Christa Dominick, MD, a gynecologic oncology fellow at University Hospitals, discusses the rationale behind this trial and the results. She also highlights her plans moving forward with other trials involving the cowpea mosaic virus in ovarian cancer.<br />
Yelena Y. Janjigian, MD, has been appointed chief of the Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology Service in the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology, Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. She will succeed Leonard Saltz, MD, who had held this position for 5 years. Saltz will assume the position of executive director for clincal value and sustainability.
The 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting was a great success, with over 40,000 people in attendance and over 5000 abstracts presented from June 1-5 in Chicago, Illinois. Data from several phase III trials in lung cancer were presented, with especially significant results in non–small cell lung cancer. Other big areas during this year’s meeting included breast, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and hematologic cancers.
Laura Dawson, MD, discusses the current and future role of SBRT in the treatment of liver tumors.
In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology, </em>Andrew M. Evens, DO, MSc, discusses the clinical trials that are ongoing at Rutgers for patients with mantle cell lymphoma. He shares some details of the current treatment landscape and how that will evolve as more data becomes available from trials like those at his institution.
According to results from the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, cancer incidence rates have declined in men while remaining stable in women. Additionally, there have been significant declines in cancer death rates, but differences between race and ethnic groups remain.
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has selected Jens Hillengass, MD, as its new Chief of Myeloma. Hillengass will continue his research on hematologic malignancies in his new position.
The adjuvant treatment landscape of gastrointestinal cancers has recently undergone a transformation, with significant findings from several clinical trials. These studies, in gastric, biliary, pancreatic, and colon cancer looked particularly at the use of treatment in the adjuvant setting after surgical resection and have ultimately changed the standards of care for these patients.
In the first report of the full cohort of 119 patients in the CheckMate-142 study, positive results were demonstrated with nivolumab alone or in combination with ipilimumab in patients with previously treated microsatellite instability-high or DNA mismatch repair-deficient metastatic colorectal cancer.
According to results from the MABLE trial, the combination of rituximab plus bendamustine demonstrated significant value as a frontline treatment option for fludarabine-ineligible patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
CB-839 has been granted Fast Track designation by the FDA in combination with cabozantinib for the treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who have received 1 or 2 prior lines of therapy, according to Calithera Biosciences, the manufacturer of the first-in-class glutaminase inhibitor.
The National Cancer Institute-designated UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center has chosen Primo Nery Lara, Jr., MD, to serve as director. His position will include leading a team of over 300 scientists in their annual research, with an estimated annual research funding of $90 million. The clinical enterprise also serves over 10,000 regional patients annually.
The use of personalized neoantigen vaccines demonstrated promising results in a recent phase I/Ib trial of patients with glioblastoma.
Irinotecan plus bevacizumab with a fluoropyrimidine proved to be a noninferior treatment option compared to the standard regimens of either mFOLFOX6, CapeOX, or FOLFIRI for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), according to findings from the phase III TRICOLORE trial.<br />
In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Mark Robson, MD, discussed the current and future role of olaparib, as well as the role of genetic testing in the treatment of breast cancer.
The US Department of Defense has selected Sanjeevani Arora, PhD, as the recipient of the Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program Career Development award and grant for fiscal year 2017. The grant will be used to fund clinical efforts benefiting both military and civilian patients.
According to initial results presented at the 2018 Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting, 43% of the first 14 patients with platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer treated with the combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and mirvetuximab soravtansine (IMGN853), a folate receptor-alpha antibody drug conjugate, had partial responses.
The treatment paradigm of chronic lymphocytic leukemia continues to advance, with many ongoing clinical trials investigating combinations seeking to build upon the success seen with Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Such potential combination therapies for CLL include venetoclax (Venclexta) with either ibrutinib (Imbruvica) or acalabrutinib (Calquence).
In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Kris, a medical oncologist and the William and Joy Ruane Chair in Thoracic Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discussed how the approval of durvalumab has changed the treatment landscape of NSCLC.
The European Society for Medical Oncology in conjunction with the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer has selected Fabrice Barlesi, MD, PhD, to receive the 2018 Heine H. Hansen Award. Barlesi will be presented with the award at the 2018 European Lung Cancer Congress, which will be held April 11-14 in Geneva, Switzerland.