All Oncology News

Driven by newer agents, the cost of US oncology medicines has increased 88% over the past 5 years, according to the QuintilesIMS Institute Global Oncology Trends 2017 report.

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will allow first-line use of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for non–small cell lung cancer as part of the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Physicians treating hepatocellular carcinoma often have to choose between a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) and immunotherapy but oncologists need better tools to make an informed choice.

Adding ramucirumab (Cyramza) to docetaxel led to a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) versus docetaxel alone in previously treated patients with locally advanced or unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

Eric Lambright, MD, discusses the ongoing role of surgery in the treatment of patients with lung cancer.

Key opinion leaders spoke with OncLive to share the top-5 abstracts they find to be the most exciting and/or potentially practice-changing across breast cancer, lung cancer, genitourinary cancers, gastrointestinal cancers, hematologic malignancies, and supportive care being presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Results from the KEYNOTE-028 study showed that pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was associated with a median duration of response of 6 months and a 6-month progression-free survival rate of 40.4% in women with advanced PD-L1–positive endometrial cancer.

Susan Garwood, MD, discusses biopsy advancements and the future of techniques in lung cancer.

Peter Martin, MD, discusses the evolution of treatment and ongoing research for patients with mantle cell lymphoma.

The FDA has approved ceritinib (Zykadia) for the treatment of patients with ALK-positive, metastatic non–small cell lung cancer.

The FDA has granted a priority review to axicabtagene ciloleucel for transplant-ineligible patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Iain Morgan, PhD, discusses research that redefines HPV-positive head and neck cancer and may also identify new therapeutic targets.

Researchers using cell-of-origin classification connected dual expression of the proteins MYC and BCL2 with poorer survival in patients undergoing chemotherapy for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Researchers achieved cost savings and cut down on the amount of drug they had to throw away by pooling drug vials and dosing all patients with a given disease on the same day of the week, according to data released ahead of the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Edward Messing, MD, discusses how treatment with gemcitabine following transurethral resection of bladder tumors reduced the risk of recurrence by 34% in patients with non-muscle invasive disease.

The FDA has granted a priority review designation to nivolumab (Opdivo) for use as a treatment for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma following prior sorafenib (Nexavar).

The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Committee voted 14-1 to recommend approving a biologics license application for epoetin hospira (Retacrit), an epoetin alfa (Epogen/Procrit) biosimilar manufactured by Hospira.

Kari B. Wisinski, MD, discusses the evolving but challenging field of TNBC and what therapies are moving through the pipeline in TNBC and other breast cancer subtypes.

The FDA has granted a priority review to a supplemental Biologics License Application for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of patients who have undergone at least 2 courses of chemotherapy for recurrent or advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.

The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 12-4 recommending approval of neratinib (Nerlynx) for the extended adjuvant treatment of patients with early stage, HER2-positive breast cancer following postoperative trastuzumab.

The FDA has granted an accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic, microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) solid tumors that have progressed after prior treatment and who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options, as well as for patients with MSI-H or dMMR colorectal cancer following progression on a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan.

Mark Burkard, MD, PhD, discusses the steps researchers are taking to address questions on genomics in breast cancer and what subtypes pose the greatest challenges.

Richard R. Furman, MD, discusses the continued evolution of the field of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and how physicians decide on the optimal treatment sequence for their patients.

Adam M. Brufsky, MD, PhD, discusses neratinib, overcoming resistance to HER2-targeted therapy, and the impact of newer agents in HER2-positive breast cancer.

In phase I results from China published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, oral pyrotinib (HTI-1001) was well-tolerated and showed antitumor activity in women with HER2-positive breast cancer.

Daniel J. Landsburg, MD, discusses the management of patients with double-hit lymphoma who have achieved remission.

Amye J. Tevaarwerk, MD, discusses how physicians decide on extending endocrine therapy beyond 5 years for patients with ER-positive breast cancer, the tools she hopes will soon become available to help clarify this decision, and the clinical research in this population she is eagerly awaiting.

Arjun V. Balar, MD, discusses the impact of the approval of pembrolizumab and other immunotherapy agents in urothelial carcinoma, as well as the next steps with these treatments.

Researchers are hoping to build on the success of the KEYNOTE-012 and CheckMate-141 trials, which led to the approvals of pembrolizumab and nivolumab, respectively, by examining anti–PD-1/PD-L1 agents in the frontline and as a part of combination regimens for patients with head and neck cancer.

Ahead of this year's meeting, researchers are increasingly interested in the state of communication between patients and doctors on immunotherapy.