Lisa Astor

Lisa Astor is the Associate Editorial Director for Targeted Oncology. Astor received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from New York University.

Articles by Lisa Astor

In the phase III PRIMA trial, niraparib demonstrated a benefit in progression-free survival compared with placebo when used as maintenance therapy following platinum-based chemotherapy for patients with ovarian cancer treated in the first line. The PFS benefit was found to be statistically significant, regardless of patients’ biomarker status, meeting the primary endpoint of the trial. 

The 4-drug regimen of daratumumab in combination with bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone induced a high percentage of stringent complete responses compared with VRd alone in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are eligible for high-dose chemotherapy and an autologous stem cell transplantation, according to topline results of the GRIFFIN trial. This met the primary endpoint of the phase II trial.

The FDA has granted a fast track designation for CLR 131 as a potential treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The designation was based on data from the DLBCL cohort of the ongoing phase II CLOVER-1 trial which is investigating CLR 131 in patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell lymphomas.

Updated results from an interim analysis of the phase III BEACON CRC trial demonstrated a significant improvement in overall survival for the triplet regimen of encorafenib, binimetinib, and cetuximab compared with cetuximab and irinotecan-containing regimens in patients with previously treated&nbsp;<em>BRAF&nbsp;</em>V600E&ndash;mutant metastatic colorectal cancer.

The FDA has approved Zirabev, a biosimilar to bevacizumab for 5 indications.&nbsp;Zirabev has been approved for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer; unresectable, locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic non-squamous non&ndash;small cell lung cancer; recurrent glioblastoma; metastatic renal cell carcinoma; and persistent, recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer.

Frontline durvalumab led to a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival (OS) in combination with etoposide and platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, according to the results of a planned interim analysis of the phase III CASPIAN trial.

A phase III trial has begun for the investigational agent pemigatinib in comparison with gemcitabine and cisplatin chemotherapy for the treatment of newly diagnosed patients with metastatic or surgically unresectable cholangiocarcinoma who have activating <em>FGFR2 </em>rearrangements. The first patient has already been treated with the selective FGFR inhibitor in the open-label, randomized FIGHT-302 trial, according to a press release from Incyte, the company developing the agent.