Lisa Astor

The FDA has accepted a biologics license application for the investigational agent luspatercept for the treatment of adult patients with very low to intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndromes&ndash;associated anemia who have ring sideroblasts and require red blood cell transfusions, and for the treatment of adult patients with beta-thalassemia&ndash;associated anemia who require RBC transfusions. In addition, a priority review designation was granted for the beta-thalassemia indication.<br /> &nbsp;

Patients with colorectal cancer and liver metastases who&nbsp;underwent laparoscopic surgery had similar long-term rates of overall survival compared with patients who had open liver surgery,&nbsp;according to results of the randomized OSLO-COMET trial. These findings were&nbsp;presented in a press briefing during the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Survival was increased with the treatment of enzalutamide plus standard of care compared with the use of other&nbsp;non-steroidal anti-androgens plus SOC for patients with&nbsp;metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. Results from an interim analysis&nbsp;of the phase III ENZAMET trial presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting showed that 80% of men with mHSPC were alive after 3 years with enzalutamide treatment compared with 72%.&nbsp;

Overall survival from the KEYNOTE-001 trial in patients with advanced non&ndash;small cell lung cancer showed treatment with pembrolizumab monotherapy produced more favorable rates of response at 5 years when compared with historical, pre-immunotherapy standard-of-care regimens.&nbsp;

Ahead of the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting, the American Society of Clinical Oncology announced leaders in the field of oncology who will be recognized during the upcoming annual meeting. The winners of ASCO&rsquo;s Special Awards and Conquer Cancer&rsquo;s Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Awards will be acknowledged for their work toward transforming cancer care around the world.

The FDA has granted a priority review designation to a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with bortezomib (Velcade), thalidomide (Thalomid), and dexamethasone for the treatment of newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma who are candidates for autologous stem cell transplant.

The FDA has granted a fast track designation to the investigational agent lasofoxifene for the treatment of women with estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who have an ESR1 mutation. The agent is currently being investigated in a phase II trial in this setting.

The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to novel tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy LN-145 for the treatment of patients with recurrent, metastatic, or persistent cervical cancer who have progressed on or after chemotherapy.

Mark Socinski, MD, explained to a group of physicians at a recent <em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives presentation the treatment considerations and decisions he makes when seeing patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer in the clinic.

During a recent <em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives presentation, Paul K. Paik, MD, explained to a group of physicians the treatment considerations and decisions he makes when seeing a patient with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.

In the first precision oncology trial for pediatric patients with cancer, a larger percentage of patients than expected who underwent screening for targetable alterations in their tumors were able to be assigned to a treatment targeted to that alteration or pathway.

The FDA has granted AL101 with an orphan drug designation for the treatment of patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma.

Novel radiotherapeutic CLR 131 has been granted a fast track designation from the FDA as a fourth-line or later treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

The FDA has granted P-BCMA-101 with an orphan drug designation for the treatment of patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma.

Radioembolization is an&nbsp;effective treatment option for patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms and liver metastases, demonstrating a disease control rate of &gt;90% in an international, retrospective study.

Elizabeth Kessler, MD, explained to a group of physicians in a recent&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology&nbsp;</em>live case-based peer perspectives presentation the treatment considerations and decisions she makes when seeing a patient with prostate cancer in the clinic.

Final results from the phase III CheckMate 498 trial demonstrated that nivolumab in combination with radiation failed to demonstrate a significant improvement in overall survival compared with temozolomide and radiation in patients with newly diagnosed <em>MGMT</em>-unmethylated glioblastoma multiforme.

The FDA has granted a fast track designation to a novel CCR5 antagonist, leronlimab (PRO 140), for use in combination with carboplatin to treat patients with CCR5-positive metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.

The combination of atezolizumab and cobimetinib failed to demonstrate a significant benefit compared with regorafenib in a phase III study of heavily pretreated patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

Significantly higher response rates were seen in patients with&nbsp;<em>ALK</em>-positive non&ndash;small cell lung cancer who had been treated with at least 1 prior ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor &nbsp;before receiving lorlatinib and who harbored an&nbsp;<em>ALK&nbsp;</em>resistance mutation compared with those who did not have an&nbsp;<em>ALK&nbsp;</em>mutation.

During a <em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives presentation, Anthony Mato, MD, MSCE, explained to a group of physicians the diagnostic workup and treatment considerations and decisions he makes when seeing a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in the clinic.

The FDA has granted a fast track designation and an orphan drug designation to APR-246, a novel agent targeting p53 for the treatment of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.

Sequential therapy with sorafenib (Nexavar) followed by regorafenib (Stivarga) for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma demonstrated real-life benefit in a study of patients treated in a Japanese hospital.

A new task force has been created by the American Society of Clinical Oncology to address the disparities that patients with cancer treated in a rural setting face. The &ldquo;Rural Cancer Care Task Force&rdquo; will work to close the gap of cancer care between academic and rural settings and improve the outcomes of patients and survivors living in a rural setting.

Naval G. Daver, MD, discusses treatment options and the data these options are based off of for the management of acute myeloid leukemia, based on a case scenario of a patient with <em>FLT3 </em>internal tandem duplication &ndash;positive acute myeloid leukemia.

Entinostat in combination with pembrolizumab induced responses in patients with recurrent or metastatic melanoma who have progressed on or after prior anti&ndash;PD-1 therapy, according to results of a phase II trial.

The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to the investigational agent selumetinib for the treatment of pediatric patients &ge;3 years old with symptomatic and/or progressive, inoperable neurofibromatosis type 1

Ahead of the 2019 Annual Meeting, the American Association for Cancer Research announced the recipients of a number of scientific awards and lectureships. Honorees will be recognized for their achievements during the AACR Annual Meeting, which is being held March 29&ndash;April 3 in Atlanta, Georgia.

An analysis of the genotyping of tumor tissue samples from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma identified frequent alterations and potentially actionable mutations in cases of HCC, and helped to confirm the clinical utility of next-generation sequencing testing for matching patients to targeted therapies and immunotherapies.

Positive findings have been seen with a novel antibody&ndash;drug conjugate in a pivotal trial for patients with advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have previously been treated with immunotherapy and chemotherapy, according to an announcement from the co-manufacturers Seattle Genetics and Astellas Pharma.