Radiation oncologists met with Congress to urge leaders to consider how the Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposal to make significant cuts to radiation oncology facilities could be detrimental to the survival of patients with cancer, according to a press Read more…
The FDA granted approval to the supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as neoadjuvant therapy for patients with high-risk early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) when given in combination with chemotherapy followed by single-agent use after surgery, according to Read more…
Adherence to current clinical guidelines for the evaluation of postmenopausal bleeding may result in systematic underdiagnosis of endometrial cancer (EC) in Black women, according to a study published online July 15 in JAMA Oncology. Kemi M. Doll, M.D., from the University Read more…
For children with high-risk group 3 medulloblastoma, therapy intensification with carboplatin improves event-free survival, according to a study published online July 22 in JAMA Oncology. Sarah E. S. Leary, M.D., from Seattle Children’s, and colleagues examined therapy intensification with carboplatin as Read more…
For adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer, living in rural counties and living farther from the reporting hospital are associated with later-stage diagnoses and increased mortality, according to a study published online July 8 in Cancer. Kimberly J. Johnson, M.P.H., Read more…
Flatiron Health real-world data (RWD) supported the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s recent approval of a new dosing regimen for ERBITUX® (Eli Lilly and Company’s cetuximab) that can have a direct positive impact on the lives of patients with metastatic Read more…
A new study, led by the University of Glasgow and published in The Lancet, has compared the three main ways anticancer treatment is given to patients when administered via a central vein. Hickman-type tunnelled catheters (Hickman), peripherally inserted central catheters Read more…
People with heart failure may live for many years and should continue to get regular cancer screenings, experts say. People with heart failure may be at increased risk for cancer. Cancer patients are usually monitored for heart failure because some Read more…
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday released draft guidance to help sponsors establish the effectiveness and safety of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues for treating advanced prostate cancer.GnRH agonists and antagonists are a mainstay for treating patients with Read more…
Pancreatic cancer often kills people because they are diagnosed too late, after their tumors have spread. Other patients may die following the removal of harmless cysts that appear threatening amid a fog of imaging data and other clinical information. But Read more…
Regorafenib as monotherapy has demonstrated an overall survival benefit versus placebo in the pivotal Phase III CORRECT study and has shown activity irrespective of micro-satellite status in a retrospective analysis from this study, though with limited responses observed. Despite progress in Read more…
Medicaid beneficiaries—particularly those from diverse communities that have been historically marginalized—have long been under-represented in clinical trials due to factors such as participation costs, time away from work, and travel expenses. Beginning January 2022, CMS will be required under the Clinical Read more…
A federal court judge dismissed all claims against dozens of generic manufacturers and retailers in sprawling litigation over allegations that the Zantac heartburn pill may contain a carcinogen, although brand-name drug makers will continue to face more than 1,400 lawsuits Read more…
Many newly approved cancer drugs fail to clearly communicate survival benefits associated with their use on the label, according to an analysis published Monday by JAMA Internal Medicine. Of the 125 drugs designed to treat cancer approved by the U.S. Food and Read more…
The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson announced today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of DARZALEX FASPRO® (daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj) in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone (Pd) for the treatment of adult patients with multiple myeloma who have Read more…
In 2019, the FDA granted accelerated approval for PADCEV for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have previously received a PD-1/L1 inhibitor and a platinum-containing chemotherapy before (neoadjuvant) or after (adjuvant) surgery, or Read more…
A recent study found that Black patients with ovarian cancer continue to have worse survival outcomes, but the data suggests that adherence to treatment guidelines may not be the cause. This research was presented during the ASCO 2021 Annual Meeting Read more…
In the first head-to-head trial of BTKs in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, acalabrutinib demonstrated non-inferior progression-free survival with less cardiotoxicity and fewer discontinuations due to adverse events when compared to ibrutinib, according to findings presented at the ASCO 2021 Virtual Annual Read more…
Approximately 10 percent of cancer cases worldwide are thought to be caused by viruses. Viruses can be roughly divided into two types—those that have DNA as their genetic material and those that have RNA. The effects of both types of Read more…
Back when people first heard about Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines, the mRNA technology behind them sounded like the stuff of science fiction. But while the mRNA approach seems revolutionary, long before anyone had heard of COVID-19, researchers had been Read more…
Men with particularly aggressive prostate cancers can be treated more effectively by combining an existing targeted medicine, abiraterone, with a new experimental drug to block two of cancer’s growth signals at once, a major new trial shows. The new combination Read more…
A recent study examining the scientific rationale and clinical results of ibrutinib combinations in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) found that the combination of ibrutinib and targeted agent venetoclax may provide high complete response rates and, importantly, high rates of undetectable Read more…
Rituximab-abbs may have more economic benefits compared to rituximab in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), rheumatoid arthritis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and microscopic polyangiitis, according to a study presented at the virtual 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting. These Read more…
Between high-risk and nonhigh-risk patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) initiating first-line chemoimmunotherapy, high-risk patients experience greater risk of next treatment or death, treatment failure, and higher costs, according to a real-world study presented at Read more…
A real-world study presented at the virtual 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting evaluated prostate-specific antigen pattern progression and its association with overall survival (OS) among patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) who were treated with enzalutamide or abiraterone. In a Read more…
A study presented at the virtual 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting compared the cost-effectiveness of two testing strategies for patients with ovarian cancer. “In 2020 ASCO recommended that all women with epithelial ovarian cancer have germline testing for BRCA1/2 mutations, and those without Read more…
More than half of patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC) did not receiveandrogen deprivation therapy (ADT) plus docetaxel or ADT plus novel hormonal therapies as first-line treatment in 2019, even though these regimens are associated with improved survival compared Read more…
This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of prophylactic cranial irradiation compared with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) surveillance in this patient population. Cost-effectiveness of the treatment approaches were based on currently available evidence and in the context of the proposed Centers for Read more…
Multiple myeloma (MM) remains an incurable disease despite incorporation of novel agents. Venetoclax, a B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) inhibitor is approved for some hematologic malignancies but not yet for MM, although clinical trials have shown efficacy in patients with MM Read more…
Previous literature has explored the beneficial relationship between physical activity and quality of life improvement (QOL) sin patients with MM. A study published in BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care found that physically active MM survivors reported higher health-related QOL (HRQOL), including significant Read more…
Incidence of multiple myeloma (MM) has more than doubled globally since 1990, according to an analysis published in BMC Cancer. In order to evaluate the global disease burden, the investigators utilized 2019 data from the Global Burden of Disease study to Read more…
Mayo Clinic today recognized the debut of a groundbreaking multi-cancer early cancer detection (MCED) test called Galleri™ that can detect more than 50 types of cancers through a simple blood draw. The Galleri test is intended to complement U.S. guideline-recommended cancer Read more…
More than a third of patients who progressed on osimertinib (Tagrisso) therapy for EGFR-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) had a response to the combination of amivantamab (Rybervant) plus lazertinib, according to results of a cohort of the CHRYSALIS trial (NCT02609776) Read more…
The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson today announced new data for ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel), an investigational B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed CAR-T therapy, demonstrated sustained efficacy and durable responses in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). Updated Read more…
In this single-arm, phase II study, the authors evaluated the use of 3 months of adjuvant capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (CAPOX) following curative-intent resection of colorectal liver metastases in 28 patients. The 5-year recurrence-free and overall survival rates were 65% and Read more…
The authors of this multicenter, noninferiority, phase III trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of oxaliplatin and capecitabine in elderly frail patients with advanced gastroesophageal cancer. Oxaliplatin and capecitabine were dosed at level A, level B (80% of level A), Read more…
A biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of novel treatments for primary and metastatic cancers in the brain and central nervous system, today announced open enrollment for its potentially pivotal study evaluating the efficacy and safety of Berubicin in the Read more…
NORTH CHICAGO, Ill., May 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) will present results from 43 abstracts across 12 types of cancer during the upcoming virtual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting (June 4-8) and the virtual European Hematology Association Read more…
Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous cancer disease comprised of various distinct subtypes and accounts for nearly 20 percent of deaths caused by all blood related diseases. Treatment of this disease has improved over the last decades, however some patients Read more…
Data from a new study by researchers at Fox Chase Cancer show that avapritinib, a platelet-derived growth factor receptor A (PDGFRA) inhibitor, has a “clinically meaningful benefit” for the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) with PDGFRA D842V mutations. According to lead Read more…
The IMF-funded iStopMM study (Iceland Screens, Treats, or Prevents Multiple Myeloma) is the largest study of its kind, with a record-setting 80,759 participants. A cancer of the bone marrow plasma cells, multiple myeloma is always preceded by a condition called Read more…
The CIBMTR® (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research®) announces the launch of a large observational study, done in collaboration with the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) to understand the safety, efficacy, and durability of responses Read more…
An American Cancer Society (ACS) review of cancer prevention and early detection measures for 2018 and 2019 in the United States shows mixed progress. Smoking prevalence during this time was at an historic low, partly because most people who ever Read more…
BeiGene, Ltd. (NASDAQ: BGNE; HKEX: 06160), a global biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing innovative medicines worldwide, today announced that the Phase 3 RATIONALE 309 trial of its anti-PD-1 antibody tislelizumab combined with chemotherapy versus placebo combined with chemotherapy as Read more…
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Rybrevant (amivantamab-vmjw) as the first treatment for adult patients with non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors have specific types of genetic mutations: epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 insertion mutations. The Read more…
Using donated umbilical cord blood, researchers from City of Hope National Medical Center in Los Angeles created an off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK) cell therapy that prolonged life with minimal side effects in a mouse model of Read more…
By identifying a protein that disrupts the interplay between two key genetic drivers of pancreatic cancer, researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center significantly dampened metastasis in preclinical studies with cell lines, genetic mouse models, and human Read more…
BeiGene, Ltd. (NASDAQ: BGNE; HKEX: 06160), a global biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing innovative medicines worldwide, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for BRUKINSA® (zanubrutinib) for the treatment of adult Read more…
A new study finds breast cancer survivors in general have higher risk of new cancer diagnosis compared to healthy individuals. The article, which appears in CANCER, states that compared to the general population in the United States, the risk of new Read more…
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) and Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Bristol Myers Squibb will be granted a global exclusive license to Agenus’ proprietary bispecific antibody program, AGEN1777, that blocks TIGIT and a Read more…
Prompted by a recent alarming rise in cases of colorectal cancer in people younger than 50, an independent expert panel has recommended that individuals of average risk for the disease begin screening exams at 45 years of age instead of Read more…
What kills most people who die from cancer is not the initial tumor. It’s the intolerable disease burden on the body that arises when tumor cells continually expand their numbers after spreading to different organs. In comparison to what is already Read more…
An artificial intelligence (AI) program accurately predicts the risk that lung nodules detected on screening CT will become cancerous, according to a study published in the journal Radiology. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, with an estimated Read more…
Up to 38.6% of people with colon cancer who have a hereditary cancer syndrome — including 6.3% of those with Lynch syndrome — could have their conditions remain undetected with current universal tumor-screening methods, and at least 7.1% of people with colorectal Read more…
In a study conducted by Dr Romain Palich of the Medical Oncology department, Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, France and colleagues almost half patients with cancer showed no anti-spike antibody response after a first injection of BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine, and this low Read more…
For cancer patients, the road from diagnosis to survivorship feels like a never-ending parade of medical appointments: surgeries, bloodwork, chemotherapy, radiation treatments, scans. The routine is time-consuming and costly. So, when hospitals charge patients double-digit parking fees, patients often leave Read more…
Astellas’ ambitious innovation and committed collaboration support new research on investigational and approved therapies in hard-to-treat cancers TOKYO, May 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D., “Astellas”) will share new data across its oncology portfolio Read more…
Cardioprotective drugs during adjuvant therapy for early-stage breast cancer do not protect against long-term decline in cardiac function, according to new data from the PRADA trial presented May 16 during ACC.21 and simultaneously published in Circulation. In the single center, double-blind trial, Siri Lagethon Heck, MD, Read more…
In a recent study, researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center found that there are major limitations in using cystoscopy for predicting the presence of muscle-invasive bladder cancer in patients who are candidates for bladder removal. A cystoscopy is an endoscopic Read more…
Treatment guided by molecular imaging technology invented and developed by researchers at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University shows improved disease-free survival rates for men who have undergone surgical removal of their prostate, according to findings published in the medical journal The Read more…
A supplemental new drug application for zanubrutinib (Brukinsa) as therapy for patients with marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) who have received 1 or more prior anti-CD20–based therapies was accepted and granted priority review by the FDA, according to the company responsible Read more…
Long-term 20-year follow-up of premenopausal patients with oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer and stratification by the 70-gene Risk Signature suggested that patients at high risk of distant disease recurrence derive significant benefit from goserelin, while patients at low risk have Read more…
Multiple studies have shown that African American women with breast cancer have lower survival rates than white women with the disease. But the association between race or ethnicity and treatment outcomes in triple-negative breast cancer — an aggressive type of Read more…
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) today released a Final Evidence Report assessing the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of three new treatments targeting the B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) for heavily pre-treated patients with triple class refractory multiple myeloma (TCRMM) Read more…
New data from Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited (hereafter, Daiichi Sankyo) and AstraZeneca’s datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd), a TROP2 directed DXd antibody drug conjugate (ADC), showed preliminary response and disease control in patients with metastatic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) with disease Read more…
More than two-thirds of pancreatic cancer patients harboring genetic mutations saw their tumor stop growing or shrink substantially after being switched from intensive chemotherapy to the PARP inhibitor rucaparib as a maintenance therapy, researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center at the Read more…
In this Phase 3 trial, Libtayo demonstrated a significant improvement in overall survival in women with advanced cervical cancer after progression on chemotherapy, reducing the risk of death by 31% compared to chemotherapy in the overall population,” said Krishnansu S. Tewari, M.D., Professor and Read more…
KENILWORTH, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced positive results from the pivotal neoadjuvant/adjuvant Phase 3 KEYNOTE-522 trial investigating KEYTRUDA, Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, in combination with chemotherapy as pre-operative (neoadjuvant) treatment Read more…
A systematic review and meta-analysis published in JAMA Dermatology identified a potential link between topical calcineurin inhibitors (TCIs) and an increased risk for lymphoma. However, the association did not extend to other forms of cancer, and the absolute risk for lymphoma among Read more…
The FDA approved TheraSphere Y-90 Glass Microspheres, a radioembolization technology, for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), according to a press release. The therapy was previously granted humanitarian device exemption, which limited the number of patients treated with the Read more…
For the first time ever, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an immunotherapeutic agent for first-line treatment of gastric cancer. On April 16, the agency approved nivolumab (Opdivo; Bristol Myers Squibb) – in combination with certain types Read more…
A combination of AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi (durvalumab), tremelimumab and chemotherapy has extended overall survival (OS) when used as a first-line treatment for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A final analysis of data from the POSEIDON study shows that the combination Read more…
Colorectal cancer diagnoses have increased among people under age 50 in recent years, and researchers are seeking reasons why. A new study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found a link between drinking sugar-sweetened beverages Read more…
Patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer have a poor prognosis. Sacituzumab govitecan is an antibody–drug conjugate composed of an antibody targeting the human trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (Trop-2), which is expressed in the majority of breast cancers, coupled to SN-38 Read more…
Overall toxicities were similar between treatment groups. No significant differences were observed between the placebo-first and the treatment-only arms after 28 days. Treatment with armodafinil for 28 additional days did not produce responses. Both placebo-first and treatment-only patients showed similar Read more…
In this open-label, intra-patient phase I/II trial, bortezomib was replaced with carfilzomib (escalated from 20 to 45 mg/m(2) on days 1, 2, 8, 9, 15 and 16 of a 28-day cycle) for multiple myeloma (MM) patients who progressed while on Read more…
Panobinostat is a histone deacetylase inhibitor that has shown synergistic preclinical anti-myeloma activity when combined with other agents, recently exhibiting synergy with the alkylating agent melphalan (Sanchez et al., Leuk Res 35(3):373-379, 2011). This phase 1/2 trial investigated the safety Read more…
Few studies have evaluated prognostic factors among patients with multiple myeloma (MM) since new therapies have become available. Monthly zoledronic acid (ZOL) has been incorporated into many treatment regimens to reduce skeletal-related events (SREs), but outcomes among patients receiving this Read more…
Our previous studies have shown that lowering the dose of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) and bortezomib in combination with intravenous dexamethasone on a longer 4-week cycle maintained efficacy and improved tolerability in both previously untreated and relapsed/refractory (R/R) multiple myeloma Read more…
Among 35 patients enrolled (median age 70 yr), responses occurred in 23/31 evaluable patients (74%) including five (16%) complete, three (10%) very good partial, six (19%) partial and nine (29%) minimal responses. Six patients (19%) had stable disease. Thus, disease Read more…
Twenty-four patients were enrolled. Median values for age, time since diagnosis, and number of prior treatments were 63 years, 29 months, and three regimens, respectively. The most common toxicities were hematologic; during the first cycle, median neutrophil and platelet nadirs Read more…
Zoledronic acid administered i.v. at a dosage of 4 mg every 6 months for three doses total was well-tolerated and substantially improved bone mineral density for patients with MGUS and bone loss. Zoledronic acid may be effective for the prevention Read more…
Bortezomib synergizes with melphalan in preclinical and early clinical studies. Updated data from our phase 1/2 study assessing the safety and efficacy of bortezomib plus melphalan in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (MM) are presented. Bortezomib (0.7, 1.0, or 1.3 mg/m(2)) on Read more…
Clonidine, idazoxan, and related imidazoline adrenergic drugs bind to non-adrenergic sites in brain and several peripheral tissues. These sites, termed imidazoline receptors, appear to exist in two major subclasses, I1 sites labeled by clonidine and I2 sites labeled by idazoxan. Read more…
Using in vitro autoradiography, mu receptor binding in rat brain was characterized at different amygdala kindling stages and in amygdaloid kindled animals pretreated chronically with naloxone. Male Sprague-Dawley rats implanted with bipolar electrodes in the right amygdala received one of Read more…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel) for the treatment of adults with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) following four or more previous treatments, including an immunomodulatory agent, a proteasome inhibitor, and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody. Ide-cel Read more…
The combination of pyrotinib plus capecitabine resulted in a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival compared with lapatinib (Tykerb) plus capecitabine as treatment of patients with previously treated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, according to data published in The Lancet Oncology. The Read more…
Preliminary results of a phase 2 study suggest that the addition of the PI3K inhibitor copanlisib to chemotherapy in the first-line setting was not associated with survival benefit in patients with advanced CCA. While chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin remains the current Read more…
New research suggests that initiating aspirin use in older patients is not associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer in these individuals. Nevertheless, the pooled analysis of two cohort studies found that people who used aspirin before 70 years of age Read more…
The monoclonal antibody pembrolizumab (Keytruda; Merck) provides statistically significant improvements in progression-free survival relative to standard chemotherapy as first-line treatment in patients with microsatellite-instability high/mismatch repair deficient (MSI-H/dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer, new research has concluded. Read More…
Various genetic alterations in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) were associated with clinical outcomes and resistance to hormone therapy in patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), according to results published in Molecular Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Read more…
The global, retrospective TARGET study evaluated the safety and efficacy of TheraSphere therapy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) – the most common type of primary liver cancer – using a dosing method known as multicompartment dosimetry, which maximizes the dose Read more…
International genomics research led by the University of Leicester has used artificial intelligence (AI) to study an aggressive form of cancer, which could improve patient outcomes. Mesothelioma is caused by breathing asbestos particles and most commonly occurs in the linings Read more…
In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have shown that whole genome sequencing can help determine which patients with a multiple myeloma precursor condition, called MGUS Read more…
Colorectal cancer risk does not rise after bariatric surgery, a study from the University of Gothenburg shows. This finding is important for patients with obesity, and their healthcare professionals, when deciding upon such an operation. Read More…
The chronic complications, which occurred in 43% of patients, affected the joints and endocrine system most commonly, and less often involved salivary glands, eyes, peripheral nerves and other organs. These complications may be long lasting, with only 14% of cases Read more…
Patients with stage II pancreatic cancer who are treated with chemotherapy followed by resection (an operation that removes the cancerous part of the organ, structure or tissue) live nearly twice as long as patients who receive only chemotherapy, according to Read more…
At an 18-month analysis of the phase 2 OVARIO trial (NCT03326193), progression-free survival (PFS) benefit persisted in a majority of patients with advanced ovarian cancer who were previously treated with frontline platinum-based chemotherapy and bevacizumab (Avastin) and went on to Read more…
Appointments for mammograms and other tests to detect potential cancers were canceled during lockdowns, possibly leading to undiagnosed malignancies. In some cases, the delay has come at a great cost. Read More…
After phase 2 trials showed promising survival for the combination of durvalumab during and after standard chemotherapy, collaborators in the US, Australia, and New Zealand open the phase 3 DREAM3R trial. Read More…
Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the European Commission (EC) has approved an expanded label for KEYTRUDA, Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, as monotherapy for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients aged Read more…
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced patient-reported outcomes (PRO) for the investigational use of Verzenio® (abemaciclib) in combination with standard adjuvant endocrine therapy (ET) for the treatment of hormone receptor-positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) high risk early Read more…
“Libtayo monotherapy is the first medicine to demonstrate an improvement in overall survival in women with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer following progression on platinum-based chemotherapy in a Phase 3 trial,” said Krishnansu S. Tewari, M.D., Professor and Director of the Read more…
A high rate of genetic mutations within a tumor, known as high tumor mutation burden (TMB), was only useful for predicting clinical responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors in a subset of cancer types, according to a new study led by researchers from Read more…
Margetuximab appears to be more effective than trastuzumab, each with chemotherapy, in women with pretreated ERBB2 (formerly HER2)-positive advanced breast cancer, which remains largely incurable, according to initial results of the SOPHIA trial. Read More…
he addition of palbociclib to a 2-year course of adjuvant endocrine therapy did not meaningfully improve invasive disease-free survival (DFS) over endocrine therapy alone in patients with early-stage breast cancer, according to an interim analysis of a phase 3 trial published in The Read more…
Breast cancer has overtaken lung cancer as the most common form of the disease, accounting for nearly 12% of new cases each year worldwide, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. “For the first time, breast cancer now constitutes the Read more…
The FDA has granted breakthrough therapy designation to the investigational drug tipifarnib for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic HRAS-mutant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) with variant allele frequency of at least 20% following disease progression on Read more…
In November 2018, the Minimally Invasive GI Surgery team at Cedars-Sinai was approached by Youram Nassir, MD, a referring oncologist, to look into a challenging and complex case of a male patient in his early 50s who had been diagnosed with stage Read more…
Anthracyclines and taxanes are being used as a standard treatment for breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy. These chemotherapy regimens allow the continuation of pregnancy without delaying cancer treatment with relatively good maternal and neonatal outcomes. However, their effects on placental Read more…
Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are specifically designed with the objective of delivering antineoplastic agents in the most precise and selectively targeted way, increasing the antitumoral efficacy while minimizing toxicity to normal tissues. Read More…
The investigation concluded that gut microbiome pathways associated with bacterial invasion of epithelial cells may predict response to nivolumab treatment in these patients. The trial also found that gastric cancer patients who responded to nivolumab treatment had a more diverse gut Read more…
Findings from the randomised phase II NEOSTAR study indicate that neoadjuvant treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab enhances pathologic responses, tumour immune infiltrates and immunologic memory in patients with operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Tina Cascone of the Thoracic/Head and Read more…
The FDA granted approval for an expanded indication for the poly(adenosine diphosphate–ribose) polymerase inhibitor niraparib (Zejula, GlaxoSmithKline): treatment of patients with advanced ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer who have been treated with three or more prior chemotherapy regimens Read more…
The FDA approved new indications for olaparib (Lynparza, AstraZeneca) and bevacizumab-awwb (Mvasi, Amgen) to be used in combination for the maintenance treatment of adults with advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. Read More…
The FDA approved cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo, Regeneron/Sanofi) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic or locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that is unresectable and not amenable to definitive chemoradiation whose tumors have high PD-L1 expression and Read more…
A new study supports exhausting noninvasive methods to diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) before attempting biopsy. In an analysis of data from the National Cancer Database, overall survival (OS) was lower in HCC patients who underwent preoperative tissue diagnosis compared with Read more…
The FDA granted accelerated approval to melphalan flufenamide (Pepaxto, Oncopeptides AB) in combination with dexamethasone for adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (MM) who have received at least four prior lines of therapy and whose disease is refractory to Read more…
Increasing time to surgery beyond four weeks is a modifiable risk factor for adverse oncologic outcomes after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer, according to a new study presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO), Read more…
In men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and mutations in genes associated with homologous recombination repair (HRR), such as BRCA1 or BRCA2, olaparib improves overall survival (OS), according to results of the open-label, phase 3 PROfound trial. Read More…
Cancer survivors who are younger than 65 and unable to work because of cancer-related impairments may apply for disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA). To inform SSA’s disability determinations for cancer survivors, Diagnosing and Treating Adult Cancers and Associated Read more…
In a new study led by researchers at Yale Cancer Center (YCC), the drug enfortumab vedotin (EV) significantly prolonged survival as compared with standard chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma or bladder cancer, who had previously Read more…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Cosela (trilaciclib) as the first therapy in its class to reduce the frequency of chemotherapy-induced bone marrow suppression in adults receiving certain types of chemotherapy for extensive-stage (when the cancer has spread beyond Read more…
KENILWORTH, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced the company is voluntarily withdrawing the U.S. indication for KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) for the treatment of patients with metastatic small cell lung cancer (SCLC) Read more…
Patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 mutant metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) showed clinical benefit and tolerable safety following treatment with poziotinib according to findings presented at the ESMO Targeted Anticancer Therapies (TAT) Virtual Congress 2021 held on 1-2 Read more…
ALK – anaplastic lymphoma kinase – is an important biomarker found in NSCLC, and targeted therapies have been shown to dramatically improve progression-free survival compared to the previous standard of care(2,3,4). The VENTANA ALK (D5F3) CDx Assay(5) is now FDA Read more…
Cancer treatment is likely to affect every aspect of a patient’s life — their activities, relationships, eating habits, mental health, physical health and comfort, financial wellbeing. And when financial concerns weigh heavily on an individual who is in treatment for cancer, Read more…
Annual lung cancer screening should include people as young as 50 and with shorter smoking histories, according to a new recommendation from an independent panel of experts that makes clinical recommendations to the American public. Read More…
“(March 10, 2021) approval of FOTIVDA provides a new tool for treating patients with kidney cancer who have relapsed or become refractory to two or more prior systemic therapies,” said Brian Rini, MD, Chief of Clinical Trials at Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center and Read more…
If clinicians could stop mutations of the KRAS gene in pancreatic cancer – which happens in more than 90 percent of pancreatic cancer cases and drastically reduces response to immunotherapy – the chances of improving treatment for this deadly form Read more…
Deepa Bhojwani recalled feeling lucky her 2-year-old cancer patient with covid-19 bounced back quickly after being seen for a fever in the emergency department at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. But in the months that followed, an unnerving thing happened. The Read more…
In its first clinical trial in patients with a hard-to-treat form of uterine cancer, a targeted drug that subjects tumor cells to staggering levels of DNA damage caused tumors to shrink in nearly one-third of patients, investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Read more…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will hold a public meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) between April 27-29, 2021 to discuss accelerated approvals in oncology impacted as part of the Agency’s industry-wide review. On April 29, Read more…
The authors of this case series evaluated the association between risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) and breast cancer risk in 876 families with pathogenic variant BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. The cumulative risk of breast cancer in women without RRSO was 61% by Read more…
The FDA approved pembrolizumab for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic or unresectable recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The approval includes two indications: for use in combination with platinum and fluorouracil for all patients, and as a Read more…
The phase III KEYNOTE-119 study revealed no significant difference in outcomes with the use of pembrolizumab versus single-agent chemotherapy for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. Nevertheless, a pre-planned exploratory analysis suggested that those patients with the highest tumor and immune cell Read more…
In this large, international, phase III trial, patients with progressive metastatic triple-negative breast cancer were randomized to receive pembrolizumab or investigator’s choice of single-agent chemotherapy in the second- or third-line setting. Median overall survival was 9.9 months with pembrolizumab versus Read more…
A preliminary exploratory analysis from part 2 of the phase 2/3 TYME-88-Panc trial (NCT03512756) of SM-88 (racemetyrosine) in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer showed a correlation between mean daily step count during the first 2 weeks of treatment and self-reported Read more…
The Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a three-day virtual meeting in April to review six accelerated approvals given to cancer immunotherapies from Roche, Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck & Co. At the advisory panel, set for April 27 through Read more…
The FDA approved approved fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (Enhertu, Daiichi Sankyo/AstraZeneca) for adults with locally advanced or metastatic HER2-positive gastric or gastroesophageal (GEJ) adenocarcinoma who have received a trastuzumab-based regimen. Read More…
The FDA approved margetuximab-cmkb (Margenza, MacroGenics) in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of adults with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have received two or more anti-HER2 regimens, at least one of which was for metastatic disease. Read More…
The ongoing fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has been fierce, and cancer patients have been affected in myriad ways. From a higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 disease to a population-level reduction in screening and surveillance, outcomes for Read more…
Research in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found an association between the combination of daratumumab, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone with improved patient-reported outcomes versus lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone. Compared with lenalidomide (Revlimid) and dexamethasone (Rd) alone, the combination with the addition Read more…
A new study supports exhausting noninvasive methods to diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) before attempting biopsy. In an analysis of data from the National Cancer Database, overall survival (OS) was lower in HCC patients who underwent preoperative tissue diagnosis compared with Read more…
The FDA approved tepotinib (Tepmetko, EMD Serono) following priority review for the treatment of adults with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring mesenchymal–epithelial transition exon 14 (METex14) skipping alterations. Tepotinib is the first and only FDA-approved MET inhibitor that offers once-daily Read more…
The FDA approved a new indication for niraparib (Zejula, GlaxoSmithKline), an oral, once-daily poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, as a monotherapy maintenance treatment for women with advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer who are in a complete Read more…
A new study found that alcohol consumption accounts for a considerable portion of cancer incidence and mortality in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Farhad Islami, MD, PhD, and his colleagues at the American Cancer Society (ACS) estimated contemporary Read more…
The FDA approved a new indication for the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy), both made by Bristol-Myers Squibb: first-line treatment of adults with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) that cannot be removed by surgery. This is the first drug regimen Read more…
Researchers investigate why some patients respond exceptionally well to cancer treatment, and the Food and Drug Administration approves a second immunotherapy drug for some breast cancer patients. Read More…
Sophisticated blood tests offer a less invasive way to characterize cancers, guide treatment and catch recurrences sooner, but tissue biopsies remain the gold standard. Read More…
Keeping her grandfather’s cancer a secret from him felt counterintuitive to Tina Chai as a teen, but conversations with other Chinese Americans helped her understand the reasons Chinese physicians and families may practice cancer nondisclosure. Read More…
Amid continued research showing the impact of COVID-19 on people with cancer, patients are asking when they should get a COVID-19 vaccine. Most health care providers are familiar with triage, the careful and intentional orchestration of patient care to ensure that Read more…
Women who receive radiotherapy for rectal cancer may be at an increased risk of uterine and ovarian cancer, a new study suggests. In an analysis of information from the SEER database on more than 20,000 female patients diagnosed with rectal Read more…
The FDA has approved the use of osimertinib as a treatment for patients with early-stage epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated (EGFRm) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). According to a release from the manufacturer, the approval is for patients who have had Read more…
Antitumor activity was observed in the study population. Dose modifications of cabozantinib improve long-term tolerability. Biomarkers are needed to identify patient populations most likely to benefit. Further study of cabozantinib with or without panitumumab in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer Read more…
Treatment for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) typically involves multiple lines of therapy with eventual development of treatment resistance. In this single arm, phase II study involving heavily pre-treated patients, the combination of sorafenib and capecitabine (SorCape) yielded a Read more…
Circulating tumor cell count is a reliable biomarker for choosing between chemotherapy or endocrine therapy for patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, according to a recent study published in JAMA Oncology (2020 Nov 5. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.5660). “The choice between chemotherapy and endocrine therapy Read more…
Small Cell Lung Cancer Diagnosis Kristie L. Kahl: To start, can you discuss what the difference is between a small cell and a non-small cell lung cancer diagnosis? Wade T. Iams, MD: Those are the 2 major types of lung cancer, and Read more…
WASHINGTON — The FDA approved the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus cabozantinib (Cabometyx) on Friday for treating advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the first-line setting. Support for approval came from CheckMate-9ER, a phase III trial that randomized 651 previously untreated patients with Read more…
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) today released guidance for COVID-19 vaccinations in patients with cancer. The NCCN created a committee of hematology and oncology experts who specialized in infectious disease, vaccine development and delivers, medical ethics, and health information Read more…
As an emergency physician, Dr. Eugenia South was in the first group of people to receive a covid vaccine. She received her second dose last week — even before President-elect Joe Biden. Yet South said she’s in no rush to Read more…
In a study to examine a Mediterranean diet in relation to prostate cancer progression in men on active surveillance, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that men with localized prostate cancer who reported a baseline Read more…
The body’s immune system is the first line of defense against infections like bacteria, viruses or cancers. Some cancers, however, have developed the art of molecular deception to avoid destruction by the body’s immune system. However, a University of Missouri Read more…
Drinking several cups of coffee every day may be linked to a lower risk of developing prostate cancer, suggests a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published in the online journal BMJ Open. Read More…
Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have uncovered new evidence of the potential health risks of chemicals in tobacco and marijuana smoke. Read More…
CLEVELAND (WJW) – It is one of the most common types of cancer. And close to 300,000 people will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States this year alone. But what if breast cancer could be wiped out Read more…
Ever since the coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a standstill back in March, there’s been talk of a vaccine. COVID-19 vaccines have been badged as our biggest opportunity to control the virus and return to normal. And for the last 10 months, researchers and scientists across the Read more…
The death rate from cancer in the U.S. dropped 2.4% from 2017 to 2018, the biggest single-year decline on record and a sign of the impact of new treatments on lung cancer especially, the American Cancer Society said. Read More…
Roughly 5 to 10 percent of all colorectal cancers (CRCs) are considered hereditary and result from mutations and defects in specific genes. Another 25 to 30 percent of patients with CRC may have a family member with a diagnosis of Read more…
Hereditary causes, due to defects in certain genes, account for up to 10% of all colorectal cancers (CRCs). These high-risk hereditary predisposition syndromes have been associated with a significantly increased lifetime risk of cancer, with some approaching 100%. In addition, Read more…
In a sea of new multiple myeloma treatment options, Shaji Kumar, M.D., hematologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, recommends taking the long view: Both initial and subsequent treatments should be selected bearing in mind what may be coming in the Read more…
Implementing policies and strategies to eliminate racial disparities could improve outcomes for both diseases Income level, employment, housing location, medical insurance, education, tobacco and alcohol use, diet and obesity, access to medical care. These are some of the factors causing Read more…
In a study to examine a Mediterranean diet in relation to prostate cancer progression in men on active surveillance, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that men with localized prostate cancer who reported a baseline Read more…
The type and abundance of bacteria found in the mouth may be linked to lung cancer risk in non-smokers, finds the first study of its kind, published online in the journal Thorax. Read More…
A comprehensive study from Uppsala University, involving more than 250,000 women, shows that oral contraceptive use protects against ovarian and endometrial cancer. The protective effect remains for several decades after discontinuing the use. The study is published in the journal Cancer Read more…
Relative to the previous standard of sunitinib, a combination of the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab and the tyrosine kinase inhibitor cabozantinib improve overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), according to results from the phase 3 CheckMate Read more…
The FDA granted accelerated approval to pralsetinib (Gavreto, Blueprint Medicines) for adults with metastatic RET fusion–positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) detected by an FDA-approved test. “Targeted therapies have dramatically improved care for patients with non-small cell lung cancer driven by oncogenes, Read more…
The FDA approved relugolix (Orgovyx, Myovant Sciences), the first oral androgen deprivation therapy for adults with advanced prostate cancer. As the first oral drug in this class, relugolix may reduce or eliminate the need for some patients “to visit the Read more…
Cancer drugs represented the lion’s share of new drug approvals in 2020, with 21 novel agents expected to be approved. In a presentation at the AMCP Nexus 2020 Virtual meeting, Aimee Tharaldson, PharmD, a senior clinical pharmacist in emerging therapeutics Read more…
The FDA approved new indications for olaparib (Lynparza, AstraZeneca) and bevacizumab-awwb (Mvasi, Amgen) to be used in combination for the maintenance treatment of adults with advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. Read More…
The FDA granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda, Merck) in combination with chemo-therapy for the treatment of patients with locally recurrent unresectable or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) whose tumors express programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1; combined positive score [CPS] ≥10), Read more…
Among cancer survivors with chronic musculoskeletal pain, auricular acupuncture—also called battlefield acupuncture—was inferior to electroacupuncture at reducing pain and was associated with higher rates of discontinuation, according to a new study. Read More…
The ongoing fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has been fierce, and cancer patients have been affected in myriad ways. From a higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 disease to a population-level reduction in screening and surveillance, outcomes for Read more…
Overall survival (OS) is improved when patients with previously untreated advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) or esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma (EGJ) receive the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab with chemotherapy rather than chemotherapy alone, according to data from the Read more…
The FDA approved osimertinib (Tagrisso, AstraZeneca) for adjuvant therapy after tumor resection in adults with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R mutations. Read More…