SKIN CANCERS

Immunotherapies and targeted therapies have greatly impacted the treatment of advanced melanoma and are beginning to make their way into earlier settings, with FDA approvals for adjuvant therapies and studies ongoing in the neoadjuvant space, according to a presentation by Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, at the <em>37th Annual</em> CFS.

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

During a <em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives live discussion, Anna C. Pavlick, DO, MS, explained to a group of physicians best practices for the diagnosis and management of patients with metastatic melanoma. Pavlick, discussed treatment options between immunotherapy and targeted therapy based on the case scenario of a patient with <em>BRAF </em>wild-type metastatic melanoma.

The FDA has approved a supplemental New Drug Application for a single dose of aprepitant injectable emulsion for intravenous use in patients receiving moderately emetogenic chemotherapy. The approval expands the dose for aprepitant to include a 130 mg single-dose regimen for the prevention of acute and delayed chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.<br /> &nbsp;

Marcelo C. Pasquini, MD, discusses the rationale for analyzing real-world data for the use of tisagenlecleucel, a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, as a treatment for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. This CD19 CAR T cell was approved 2 years ago for use in both ALL and DLBCL.

The addition of direct oral oral anticoagulants for the management of venous thromboembolism in patients with cancer is the latest change to previous guidelines issued by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Ryan Sullivan, MD, discusses the 5-year data pooled from the phase III COMBI-d and COMBI-v trials, which each studied dabrafenib (Tafinlar) plus trametinib (Mekinist) in patients with&nbsp;<em>BRAF V600</em>&ndash;mutant unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

Using a measure known as the growth modulation index, patients with TRK fusion&ndash;positive cancers who were treated with larotrectinib had a clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival compared with the time to progression on their prior treatment, an analysis of patients enrolled in 1 of 3 clinical trials has found.

Three clinical trials presented at the 2019 ESMO Congress show that the tropomyosin receptor kinase&nbsp;inhibitor larotrectinib continues to show anti-tumor activity, including long-lasting objective responses and low toxicity, according to results from an integrated analysis.

&ldquo;New therapies have increased the median survival for advanced-stage melanoma from approximately 9 months before 2011 to at least 2 years, based on [data from] clinical trials,&rdquo; Elizabeth Ward, PhD, and colleagues wrote about their report on cancer burden in younger patients.

Now in it 24th year, the annual International Congress on Hematologic Malignancies: Focus on Leukemias, Lymphomas, and Myeloma, hosted by Physicians&rsquo; Education Resource, LLC, continues to bring significant advances in hematology to the forefront.

Michael R. Migden, MD, spoke with a group of physicians during a <em>Targeted Oncology </em>live case-based peer perspectives discussion about responses in patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma to immunotherapy treatment.

To improve the efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies, Nirali N. Shah, MD, MHSc, suggested including new constructs that target more than 1 antigen in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, during a presentation at the 2019 SOHO Annual Meeting.<br /> &nbsp;

In a recent review of the 5-year outcomes from the COMBI-d and COMBI-v trials published in the&nbsp;New England Journal of Medicine, investigators saw long-term benefit with the use of dabrafenib plus trametinib as first-line treatment in about one-third of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma and&nbsp;BRAF V600E or V600K mutations.

Keith T. Flaherty, MD, discusses the combination regimens and the potential role for a 3-drug regimen as treatment for patients with melanoma. He says investigators have been searching for new combination strategies beyond the combination of BRAF and MEK inhibitors.

In an interview with&nbsp;Targeted Oncology, Shailender Bhatia, MD, highlighted the key takeaways from the 5 abstracts he found most significant at the 2019 ASCO meeting for the treatment of patients with melanoma.

In an interview with&nbsp;Targeted Oncology, Sattva S. Neelapu, MD, discussed the evolving role for CAR T-cell therapy in patients with B-cell lymphomas. He also highlighted the toxicities commonly associated with these therapies and how physicians can treat these AEs as they arise.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Michael Atkins, MD, discussed the latest follow-up data from the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab across 2 trials and next steps in the research with this combination for patients with advanced melanoma.

In the largest genomic study of Merkel cell carcinoma tumors to date, investigators identified 2 distinct molecular subgroups, an ultraviolet light&ndash;driven subtype and a viral-driven subtype, which matched with tumor mutational burden classifications.&nbsp;