News

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become another potential complication for patients with lung cancer, said Mark G. Kris, MD, who added that although the pandemic has disrupted patient care, it has yet to stunt scientific collaboration.

The FDA approved pralsetinib (Gavreto) for adults and children aged 12 or older with advanced or metastatic RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) who need systemic therapy or RET fusion-positive thyroid cancer who require systemic therapy and are radioactive iodine-refractory.

blood cancer

Following the approvals of tisagenlecleucel (tisa-cel; Kymriah) and axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; Yescarta), several research efforts have been dedicated to the development and exploration of CAR T-cell therapies in the realm of leukemias and lymphomas, according to Olalekan O. Oluwole, MBBS, MD, who added that although this modality has moved the needle forward, this approach is not without toxicity.

The FDA has granted an accelerated approval to naxitamab-gqgk (Danyelza) for use in combination with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor as a treatment for pediatric patients 1 year of age and older and adult patients with relapsed/refractory high-risk neuroblastoma in the bone or bone marrow who have demonstrated a partial response, minor response, or stable disease to prior treatment.

melanoma

Tebentafusp (IMCgp100) showed superiority in overall survival (OS) compared with investigator’s choice of therapy in patients with previously untreated metastatic uveal melanoma, according to results of a preplanned interim analysis of the phase 3 IMCgp100-202 trial (NCT03070392).

Pathology is the cornerstone of precision medicine, explained Marilyn M. Bui, MD, PhD, who added that, as a whole, the health care specialty needs to step it up in the diagnosis of sarcomas and the differentiation between the various histological subtypes.

The FDA has granted a fast track designation and an orphan drug designation to the orally bioavailable small molecule tubulin-binding agent PTC596 for potential use in patients with leiomyosarcoma; the agent also received a rare pediatric disease designation and an orphan drug designation for potential use in patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).

Colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment has entered an era that is both exciting and challenging, according to Nilofer S. Azad, MD, who emphasized that as new strategies continue to be explored, treatment decisions should be informed by tumor location, the alterations present, and tolerability.

The combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) elicited an objective response rate (ORR) of 25% and was found to be well tolerated in patients with advanced or unresectable angiosarcoma, according to cohort findings of the phase 2 DART trial (NCT02834013) that were presented during the virtual SITC 2020 Annual Meeting.

Patients on active therapy during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as oncology care providers, have increased levels of perceived and posttraumatic stress, according to preliminary data from the COVIPACT study. These data highlight a gap in psychosocial support resources that help promote emotional resilience and reduce the risk of posttraumatic stress in patients on active therapy.

The FDA granted an accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with locally recurrent, unresectable or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) with PD-L1 expression is CPS ≥10, according to the agency.

melanoma

In an effort to further improve outcomes without sacrificing tolerability, the combination of cabozantinib (Cabometyx) with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is being evaluated in patients with advanced melanoma in a phase 1b/2 study (NCT03957551), according to a virtual presentation during the 2020 SITC Annual Meeting.