In a first-in-human phase I/II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Doran et al found that autologous genetically engineered T cells expressing a T-cell receptor directed against the human papillomavirus (HPV)16 E6 oncoprotein were capable of inducing tumor regression in metastatic,...
In a single-institution study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hamilton et al found that relapses of clinical stage I nonseminomatous germ cell tumors (NSGCT) during postorchiectomy active surveillance most frequently occurred in the retroperitoneum and were cured by single-modality...
In the French Sarcoma Group noncomparative phase II DESMOPAZ trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Toulmonde et al found that the oral vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor inhibitor pazopanib was active in adult patients with progressive desmoid tumors. As noted by the investigators, ...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Lu et al found that multiplex immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence (mIHC/IF) assays appeared to have greater accuracy vs other types of assays in predicting response to anti–programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell...
Microsatellite instability (MSI) is an important predictive biomarker of response to immune checkpoint blockade in solid cancers. However, despite recommendations by clinical practice guidelines, MSI is often not assessed, usually due to tissue insufficiency, unavailability, or infeasibility....
In a phase I trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hont et al found that treatment of relapsed or refractory solid tumors with ex vivo expanded autologous multiantigen-associated specific cytotoxic T cells—or, tumor-associated antigen cytotoxic T cells—was safe and showed...
On August 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to pexidartinib (Turalio) capsules for the treatment of adult patients with symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT) associated with severe morbidity or functional limitations and not responsive to improvement with...
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to bempegaldesleukin in combination with nivolumab for advanced melanoma and cleared an investigational new drug application for a phase I trial of SB 11285 in advanced solid tumors. Breakthrough...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wallner et al found that many patients with differentiated thyroid cancer reported feeling they had no choice in receipt of radioactive iodine treatment. As stated by the investigators, “For many patients with differentiated thyroid...
Researchers have discovered two distinct subtypes of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) associated with different risks of recurrence following surgical treatment. The finding could yield predictive tests while focusing vigilant follow-up monitoring on patients with pNETs that have a higher...
Researchers at the University of Washington are developing a user-friendly vest with technology that collects data to tailor personalized therapy for patients with metastatic, somatostatin receptor 2–positive neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Their study was presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting...
In the phase III ENLIVEN trial reported in The Lancet, Tap et al found that the colony-stimulating factor 1 inhibitor pexidartinib produced responses in patients with advanced tenosynovial giant cell tumors (TGCTs) not amenable to surgical resection. Study Details In the double-blind portion of...
Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) has been shown to be safe and effective for patients with grade 3 neuroendocrine neoplasms, according to research presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) and published by Zhang et al in The...
In a single-center retrospective analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Funt et al found that the presence of teratoma in advanced nonseminomatous germ cell tumors was associated with a greater risk for disease-related death. The study was a retrospective review of primary tumor...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a new drug application for niraparib in the treatment of certain pretreated gynecologic cancers; granted Fast Track designation to a T-cell product; accepted investigational new drug applications for a myelopreservation agent and an...
In a trial presented by Baumann et al at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 6521), patients with locally advanced cancer treated with proton chemoradiotherapy instead of traditional photon chemoradiotherapy were at a lower risk of experiencing side effects. However, cure rates were almost...
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted designations in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, and Kaposi sarcoma; and the FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) held votes on treatments for tenosynovial giant cell tumor and acute...
A study investigating the frequency of targetable molecular alterations in pediatric cancer among patients enrolled in the National Cancer Institute–Children’s Oncology Group Pediatric Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (MATCH) trial has found that about one-quarter of patients with...
Recently, the American Urological Association (AUA) released a new clinical guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of early-stage testicular cancer. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer among men ages 20 to 40. Although it is a less common form of cancer, about 9,600 American men...
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted a Fast Track designation to a treatment for CCR5-positive metastatic triple-negative breast cancer; granted Breakthrough Device designation to a test for the postsurgical detection and quantification of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA);...
A 12-year retrospective clinical study of patients who received peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) for malignant neuroendocrine tumors demonstrated the long-term effectiveness of this treatment, which also allows patients to maintain a high quality of life. The study was published by...
In the past 2 weeks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a new drug application and granted Priority Review for a prostate cancer treatment, granted Orphan Drug designation to a treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, accepted an investigational new drug application for a...
Results of the phase II SABR-COMET trial reported by Palma et al in The Lancet indicate that stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) was associated with improved survival vs standard palliative treatment in patients with oligometastatic cancers, although it was also associated with...
A consortium of researchers have completed an analysis of a new gene fusion they believe is responsible for the development of a wide spectrum of cancer types. According to the investigators, their studies show that errant gene fusions in neuregulin-1, or NRG1, which are present in about...
The investigational anticancer therapeutic LOXO-195, which targets a family of proteins called tropomyosin receptor kinases (TRKs), was safe, tolerable, and showed signs of clinical activity in patients who had solid tumors that harbored NTRK gene fusions and had become resistant to other...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dieckmann et al found that serum levels of microRNA (miR)-371a-3p (M371 test) showed very high accuracy for detecting testicular germ cell tumors. Study Details In the prospective international study, serum samples from 616 patients with...
In a UK population-based cohort study (Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Survivor Study) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bright et al found that subsequent primary neoplasms were most common in survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA) breast, cervical, and testicular cancers, as well as Hodgkin...
Men with early-stage testicular cancer can safely receive one course of adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy without it having a long-term effect on their reproductive potential, according to a study published by Weibring et al in Annals of Oncology. Although it is known already that several...
A phase Ia/Ib trial was launched in order to evaluate the safety of LY3321367, an anti–T-cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain–containing molecule-3 (TIM-3) antibody, administered alone or in combination with LY3300054, an anti-programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody, in...
The Lung Immune Prognostic Index (LIPI) calculated prior to the initiation of treatment may be used to stratify patients with diverse tumor types into groups that significantly associate with outcome following immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, according to a retrospective study presented at the...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Stewart et al identified the risk of neoplasms and malignancies among nonproband carriers of pathogenic germline variants in DICER1. The nonproband carriers were the biologic relatives of probands enrolled in three cohorts of individuals...
Over the past week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted multiple Priority Reviews and accepted a supplemental new drug application: Priority Review for Entrectinib in NTRK Fusion–Positive Solid Tumors and Metastatic, ROS1-Positive NSCLC This week, the FDA accepted new drug...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, AlDubayan et al found that inherited pathogenetic variants in the checkpoint kinase 2 gene (CHEK2), among inherited pathogenetic DNA-repair gene (DRG) alterations, were associated with susceptibility to testicular germ cell tumors. The study involved screening ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted the following designations and applications and also issued a statement: Priority Review for Pexidartinib in Tenosynovial Giant Cell Tumor The FDA has accepted a new drug application (NDA) and granted Priority Review for pexidartinib...
The first report from a phase II, multicenter clinical trial has found that a newer, more aggressive form of radiation therapy—stereotactic ablative radiation—can extend long-term survival for some patients with stage IV cancers, while maintaining their quality of life. The study was...
Over the past year, major research advances provided new treatment options for patients with rare, difficult-to-treat cancers. In recognition of these achievements, ASCO named “Progress in Treating Rare Cancers” as the Advance of the Year. To continue the forward momentum, ASCO also...
In a Japanese phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hayashi et al found that standard site-specific treatment based on gene-expression profiling was not associated with better outcomes vs empirical paclitaxel and carboplatin in patients with cancer of unknown primary site....
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Wallis et al found no difference in overall survival benefit in women vs men receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment for advanced solid tumors. The authors noted that a prior analysis had suggested men derived a greater...
Findings from the phase I KEYNOTE-028 trial, which studied pembrolizumab in a number of solid tumors, showed activity of the immunotherapy in some patients with heavily pretreated neuroendocrine tumors. Now, a phase II basket trial—KEYNOTE-158—is studying the efficacy and safety of...
Unlike healthy tissues, tumors thrive in low-oxygen environments, often acquiring the ability to resist treatment and spread to other sites in the body. Despite being a well-known cause of therapy resistance and metastasis, the impact of hypoxia on tumor cells is poorly understood. Researchers have ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued the following new designations and clearances: Fast Track Designation for Itolizumab for the Treatment of Acute Graft-vs-Host Disease The FDA granted Fast Track designation to itolizumab for the treatment of acute graft-vs-host ...
In a report from the Children’s Oncology Group published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Fonseca et al found that relapse in children and adolescents with nongerminomatous malignant germ cell tumors (MGCTs) was most frequently identified by tumor markers rather than imaging. Study...
In an analysis from the phase Ib KEYNOTE-028 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ott et al found that response to pembrolizumab across different cancers was more likely in patients with higher tumor mutational burden, T-cell–inflamed gene-expression profile, and programmed...
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Gounder et al found that sorafenib improved progression-free survival vs placebo in patients with progressive, symptomatic, or recurrent desmoid tumors. As noted by the investigators, there is no current standard of care for...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued the following new approvals and designations: Priority Review for Atezolizumab in Combination With Chemotherapy for the Initial Treatment of Extensive-Stage SCLC The FDA accepted a supplemental biologics license application...
An antibody that binds simultaneously to two distinct regions of the HER2 receptor to block the growth of cancer cells has shown antitumor activity in a number of cancers, including those of the esophagus, stomach, and bowel. Updated results from a phase I clinical trial of the treatment, called...
On November 26, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to larotrectinib (Vitrakvi) for adult and pediatric patients with solid tumors that have a neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase (NTRK) gene fusion without a known acquired resistance mutation, whose...
Patients with thyroid cancer whose disease is at low risk of returning can be treated safely with a smaller amount of radiation following surgery, according to results from the HiLo trial presented by Wadsley et al at the 2018 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference (Abstract...
Squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) are malignancies arising from squamous epithelium of various organs, such as esophagus, head and neck, lung, and skin. Previous studies demonstrated that two master transcription factors, TP63 and SOX2, effect genomic activation in SCCs. Now, researchers from...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Latham et al found that microsatellite instability (MSI) and/or mismatch repair deficiency (MMR-D) is predictive of Lynch syndrome across a greater than heretofore recognized breadth of the solid tumor spectrum. As noted by the...