Sept 2018

Antibody–drug conjugate therapies are making a larger impact on the treatment paradigm for patients with lymphomas, especially following promising data for brentuximab vedotin and inotuzumab ozogamicin.

Sham Mailankody, MBBS, discusses current treatment options and shifting preferences, especially toward triplet combinations, for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, as well as emerging immunotherapy treatment options.

Patients with the localized form of CRPC still have no options that are proven to extend overall survival, but preliminary results from the PROSPER trial of enzalutamide and the SPARTAN trial of apalutamide offer them unprecedented hope.

Combinations of novel drugs used for treating patients with lymphomas may have the potential to improve responses and overcome resistance to therapy but can be accompanied by unexpected adverse events that demand careful monitoring, Kieron Dunleavy, MD, cautioned during the 2018 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference.

HER2 mutations have been identified as another oncogenic driver in the growing list of actionable targets in non–small cell lung cancer. Based on a mounting body of evidence on the impact of HER2 mutations in lung cancer and the growing focus on personalized medicine, the HER2 receptor has gained focus as a potential target for precision medicine treatments for patients with NSCLC.

Medicare patients could save an estimated $150 million on out-of-pocket co-payments for clinic visits if proposed changes to the hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Cancer payment system are adopted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for 2019.

Increased focus has been placed on the overwhelming stress within the physician community, often referred to as burnout. According to Medscape’s 2018 National Physician Burnout and Depression Report, nearly twothirds of physicians within the United States have reported symptoms.

Only 1 treatment option is currently&nbsp;available for treating&nbsp;patients with metastatic germline&nbsp;<em>BRCA</em>-mutated triple-negative&nbsp;breast cancer, but research&nbsp;into novel therapies, including PI3K/conjugates could soon result in a host of new therapies for this hard-to-treat disease.

Quick progress was seen with a novel class of agents, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies, in the setting of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma&mdash;a swift jump from early phase clinical trials to FDA-approved products.

Adding selective internal radiation therapy to chemotherapy improved overall survival by 5 months compared with &nbsp;chemotherapy alone for patients with liver-only or liver-dominant right-sided primary metastatic colorectal cancer, according to results from a post hoc analysis of 2 randomized, controlled trials.

Despite progress seen with immune checkpoint inhibitors in Hodgkin lymphoma, there remains an unmet need for greater responses, which could be filled by potential combination approaches, according to Stephen M. Ansell, MD, PhD.

Two oncologists from the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University reviewed data for and against the use of chemotherapy for patients with resectable colorectal cancer liver metastases. Mehmet Akce, MD, spoke in favor of chemotherapy, while Shishir K. Maithel, MD, argued against it.

Long-term metastatic control is an important goal for patients with high-risk renal cell carcinoma after nephrectomy. In recent years, adjuvant therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors has entered the picture to potentially fill this unmet need.