July 2017

Mutations in FLT3 have long been recognized in a portion of patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Yet it took more than 15 years until an agent targeting FLT3 mutations came to fruition with the FDA approval of midostaurin in April 2017, marking about 40 years since the last new agent was approved to treat patients with AML.

Duvelisib, a PI3K-delta/gamma inhibitor, in combination with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab showed high rates of responses and bone marrow minimal residual disease negativity in younger patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Aurora kinase inhibition in combination with an oncolytic herpes simplex virus could represent a novel treatment approach for patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 who develop malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors.

Based on results of a feasibility study, researchers in the United Kingdom have decided to move forward with a full randomized controlled trial comparing partial prostate ablation (PA) with radical prostatectomy (RP) in patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer, according to a presentation at the 2017 American Urological Association Annual Meeting.

Results of an investigation presented at the 2017 American Urological Association Annual Meeting indicate that resistance to docetaxel and cabazitaxel (Jevtana) in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is mediated by a common mechanism, overexpression of the ABCB1 gene.

The uptake of biosimilar agents is still slow in oncology and hematology in the United States. But this area is expected to grow with more understanding of biosimilars and, especially, because the US patents for trastuzumab (Herceptin) and bevacizumab (Avastin) expire in 2019.

There are more than 70 subtypes that fall under the soft tissue sarcoma (STS) umbrella, according to the World Health Organization, and only account for approximately 1% of all cancers in adult patients. Yet, physicians continue to try to treat all sarcomas the same, making drug development for these types of tumors quite slow and frustrating.