Kathy Boltz, PhD

Treatment with nivolumab and radiotherapy with or without concurrent temozolomide was well tolerated and showed promising signs of efficacy for patients with newly-diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme.

The PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab generated durable responses in bevacizumab-naïve patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.

Treatment with AG-120 at an established dose of 500 mg induced a stable disease rate of 83% and a minor response rate of 9% for patients with non-enhancing IDH1-mutated glioma.

Updated data from the phase III EF-14 study showed that adding Optune to temozolomide improved overall survival by 4.8 months compared with temozolomide alone in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme.

Pembrolizumab had a 6-month progression-free survival rate of 44% and a manageable safety profile for patients with recurrent PD-L1-positive glioblastoma multiforme.

Combination therapy with ibudilast and temozolomide for glioblastoma multiforme increased apoptosis and prolonged survival by significantly reducing macrophage inhibitory factor and receptor CD74 expression.

The gene for an anticancer drug was successfully transduced in high-grade gliomas, which resulted in an improvement in overall survival, according to data from a phase I trial of Toca 511.

The combination of pazopanib (Votrient) and cetuximab (Erbitux) showed a disease control rate of 77% in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, including patients with cetuximab- or platinum-resistant disease.

Both progression-free and overall survival with second-line afatinib (Gilotrif) in recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma are associated with several biomarkers.

The use of induction chemotherapy for advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma does not improve overall survival.

Tobacco-associated mutations accumulate over time in smokers with HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer, resulting in less dependence on E6/E7 and other HPV-associated mutations.

The increased cost of new branded oncology drugs continues to receive much negative press. Recent editorials have criticized the high cost of new cancer therapies, and their less than stellar improvements in efficacy, over already existing, lower-cost treatment options. Such critics have argued that little or no correlation between drug efficacies and pricing exists.