HEAD & NECK CANCERS

Significant activity was observed when ibrutinib was administered concurrently with CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy compared with separately in patients with high-risk relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia who had progressed on or were intolerant of ibrutinib. Data presented at the 15th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma show a high response rate with this concurrent treatment. 

The American Cancer Society, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Baptist Cancer Center, and the Mayo Clinic report that treatment patterns varied markedly by cancer type and care facility setting for patients with de novo metastatic disease who died within 1 month after diagnosis, based on an analysis of data from 100,848 patients collected from the National Cancer Database, a hospital-based cancer registry that captures 70% of patients in the United States with a new diagnosis.

The FDA recently released 5 new draft guidance documents that promote broader patient eligibility for cancer clinical trials. The policies encourage inclusion of certain individuals who were previously disqualified due to medical conditions or biological factors, including brain metastases, organ dysfunction, prior or concurrent malignancies, chronic infections, and age.

A cohort of cancer centers was selected to serve as models for identifying key strategies for racial and ethnic minority group engagement in clinical trials. On the basis of several qualifying criteria, such as sustained accrual of minorities into clinical cancer research, an established minority population ≥10% in the overall catchment, an established clinical trial infrastructure, and a formal community outreach program, the investigators identified 8 cancer centers for participation.

In a case-based-style discussion, Tanios S. Bekaii-Saab, MD, and Wells Messersmith, MD, reviewed the treatment of patients with colorectal cancer whose tumors express rare gene mutations or molecular signatures, such as <em>NTRK</em> fusions.

Pembrolizumab has been approved by the FDA as monotherapy for newly diagnosed patients with&nbsp;metastatic or unresectable recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma&nbsp;whose tumors express PD-L1 and for use in combination with platinum and fluorouracil for this patient population, irrespective of PD-L1 expression.

Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD,&nbsp;co-physician editor-in-chief of <em>Targeted Therapies in Oncology</em>, highlights&nbsp;a series of exciting results presented across various topics, which affect cancer research and treatment, during the 2019 AACR Annual Meeting.

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

A discussion between&nbsp;regulators and special interest groups has cooled some of the excitement generated by the emergence of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy for treating hematologic cancers.

Before a community oncology practice considers getting involved in clinical trials research, there are many factorsto consider. Perhaps foremost is the fact that cancer clinical trials provide the evidence base for new advances in oncology.&nbsp;

Artificial intelligence has made inroads in many industries&mdash;banking, finance, security&mdash;but its adoption in healthcare has been lagging and real-world clinical implementation has yet to become a reality. Nonetheless, proponents say it is only a matter of time and pilot programs are starting to yield some practical results.&nbsp;

Immune checkpoint inhibitors as monotherapy and in combinations regimens are producing promising efficacy data in metastatic head and neck cancers, depite struggles in finding the right treatment settings and patient population subsets.

Frederick L. Locke, MD, discusses how chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies have evolved over the last 30 years of research in the field of hematologic malignancies.

The success of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy observed in hematologic malignancies has not yet translated into the solid tumor setting; however, efforts continue to try to bring this new modality into the treatment paradigm for solid tumors, including pancreatic cancer.&nbsp;

The healthcare community is still awaiting a response from the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services to the opposition of the agency&rsquo;s proposal to substantially revise the Medicare Part D protected drug classes.

Overtreating men 70 years or older with prostate cancer cost Medicare more than $1.2 billion from 2004 to 2007, according to the results of a retrospective study using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results&ndash;Medicare linked database.

Based on data from the phase III&nbsp;KEYNOTE-048 trial,&nbsp;pembrolizumab has received a priority review designation from the FDA alone or&nbsp;in combination with platinum and 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.