News

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Frankie Holmes, MD, discusses HER2-directed therapy with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and pertuzumab (Perjeta).

New findings from a study suggest it is unlikely that any single gene can predict response to targeted therapy for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. Instead, gene networks&mdash; specifically those involving PI3 kinase &mdash;may provide a clearer picture of patient outcomes.

Though some clinicians may characterize the treatment landscape of HER2-positive breast cancer as overcrowded, Mark Pegram, MD, firmly believes that there is still much to learn in this space.

Bertram Yuh, MD,&nbsp;discussed the selection of surgery or radiation therapy in patients with localized disease, as well as the potential for using active surveillance with these patients.

A supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for the use of regorafenib (Stivarga) as a second-line treatment for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been submitted to the FDA for approval.

Clayton S. Lau, MD, highlights the importance of active surveillance, the evolution of surgical techniques and radiation therapy, and the steps oncologists should take once early-stage prostate cancer progresses.

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Tanya Dorff, MD, discussed developments in the upfront treatment of hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer.

The FDA has granted priority review designation to a new drug application for ribociclib for use in combination with letrozole as a frontline therapy for patients with HR&ndash;positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Among patients with HER2-negative stage IIIb/IV breast cancer who have progressed after a taxane or anthracycline therapy, a multicenter single-arm study of third-line eribulin demonstrated both safety and efficacy.

Toxicities associated with capecitabine may be better managed by dose reductions and/or a week-on/week-off (WOWO) dosing schedule among patients aged 70 years or older with metastatic breast cancer.

The addition of palbociclib (Ibrance) to endocrine therapy led to a consistent improvement in progression-free survival (PFS), according to a biomarker analysis of a recently reported randomized trial.¹

Alessandra Ferrajoli, MD,&nbsp;discusses the challenge with secondary malignancies in patients with CLL.

James Allison, PhD, discusses exciting advancements in immunotherapy combinations, the potential synergistic effects of radiation with immunotherapies, and considerations that must be made when combining other agents with immunotherapy.

The combination of cabozantinib (Cabometyx) plus nivolumab (Opdivo) in patients with advanced/refractory genitourinary cancers demonstrated promising activity in the second-line setting and beyond at all dose levels tested.

A new drug application for brigatinib for patients with metastatic ALK-positive NSCLC who are resistant to prior crizotinib (Xalkori) has been granted priority review by the FDA.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has accepted and validated a marketing authorization application for avelumab as a treatment for patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.

According to an updated survival analysis of the large randomized phase III COMBI-v trial, co-inhibition of BRAF and MEK pathways with dabrafenib and trametinib continued to be superior to sole BRAF inhibition with vemurafenib in patients with unresectable metastatic melanoma at 3 years.

Early results from a pre-planned interim analysis in the KEYNOTE-052 phase II trial of first-line pembrolizumab in cisplatin-ineligible patients with metastatic urothelial cancer demonstrated antitumor activity.

William Cance, MD, has recently joined the University of Arizona Cancer Center (UACC) as Deputy Director.

Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD, vice dean for science and chief scientific officer of NYU Langone Medical Center, and a senior member of its Perlmutter Cancer Center, was recently named a recipient of the Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, discusses&nbsp;provided his expert insight on the frontline treatment of patients with CLL.

A recent phase III trial showed custirsen combined with docetaxel failed to significantly extend overall survival (OS) compared with docetaxel alone as a second-line treatment for patients with NSCLC.

Updated data from the CheckMate-205 trial demonstrated that nivolumab (Opdivo) had an objective response rate (ORR) of 73% in a cohort of patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

Robert S. Alter, MD discusses optimal sequencing for bladder cancer agents and how he determines the appropriate treatment for patients.

First-line pembrolizumab demonstrated significant antitumor activity in cisplatin-ineligible patients with metastatic urothelial cancer.

Charles S. Fuchs, MD, MPH, has been appointed the new director and physician-in-chief of Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale Cancer Center (YCC) in New Haven, Connecticut.

In patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), the correlation between tumor location and improved survival varies based on stage of disease, according to a study.

An expert discusses the potential role for immunotherapy in frontline head and neck cancer, as well as the possible benefit of using it in combination with standard treatments, including radiation and chemotherapy.