•   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from Cancer Network:

    “The combination of encorafenib and binimetinib resulted in longer overall survival (OS) compared with vemurafenib in patients with BRAF V600–mutant melanoma, according to results of the COLUMBUS trial. Combined with an earlier report showing improved progression-free survival (PFS), this suggests the regimen should become an important option in this setting.

    “Small-molecule BRAF inhibitors, originally introduced as monotherapy, offered improvements in outcomes for these melanoma patients. ‘However, response durations were short and BRAF inhibitor treatment was associated with the development of squamous cell skin cancer and other skin toxicities related to paradoxical MAPK pathway activation,’ wrote study authors led by Reinhard Dummer, MD, of University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland. Combinations of BRAF and MEK inhibition have improved the situation further, but better treatment options are still needed.”

    Go to full article published by Cancer Network on Sep 26, 2018.

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  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from OncLive:

    “Repotrectinib (TPX-0005) demonstrated a clinically meaningful and durable benefit across multiple doses in patients with ROS1 fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

    “Overall response rates (ORRs) were 80% for tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)-naïve patients (95% CI, 44-97) and 18% for TKI-refractory patients (95% CI, 4-44), including 33% for those who received a dose of 160 mg once daily, according to findings from the ongoing phase I/II TRIDENT-1 study. Interim analysis results were presented at the 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC).”

    Go to full article published by OncLive on Sep 24, 2018.

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  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from OncLive:

    “Lurbinectedin (Zepsyre; PM1183) plus doxorubicin demonstrated significant clinical activity as a second-line therapy for patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC), especially when excluding refractory patients.

    “In particular, patients with chemotherapy-free intervals (CTFIs) of 90 days or more induced a 53% overall response rate (ORR) and PFS of 5.7 months, according to findings that were presented at the 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Toronto, Canada.”

    Go to full article published by OncLive on Sep 26, 2018.

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  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from OncLive:

    “Poziotinib (NOV120101, HM781-36B) demonstrated high antitumor activity in patients with metastatic, heavily pretreated EGFR and HER2 exon 20 mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to phase II study results presented at the 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Toronto, Canada.

    To date, the agent specifically induced a best response rate of 55%, including a 43% confirmed objective response rate (ORR) among evaluable patients with EGFR exon 20 mutant NSCLC in the study, said John V. Heymach, MD, PhD, who presented data of the investigator-initiated study of poziotinib in EGFR and HER 2-exon 20 mutant NSCLC (NCT03066206).”

    Go to full article published by OncLive on Sep 24, 2018.

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  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from Healio:

    “The addition of frontline atezolizumab to carboplatin or cisplatin plus pemetrexed improved PFS among patients with non-small cell lung cancer, according to interim results from a global phase 3 randomized trial presented at International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer’s World Conference on Lung Cancer.

    “IMpower132 is an open-label study of atezolizumab (Tecentriq, Genentech) — a PD-L1 inhibitor — among 578 chemotherapy-naive patients with stage IV nonsquamous NSCLC. Exclusion criteria included EGFR or ALK mutations, untreated central nervous system metastases, autoimmune disease and prior exposure to immunotherapy.”

    Go to full article published by Healio on Sep 25, 2018.

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  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from OncLive:

    “Findings from the MONALEESA-3 trial dispelled the theory that a CDK4/6 inhibitor had to be reserved following recurrence on hormone therapy in postmenopausal patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, explained Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD.

    “In the phase III trial, postmenopausal patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced disease who received up to 1 prior line of therapy were randomized 2:1 to ribociclib (Kisqali) plus fulvestrant (Faslodex) or placebo.”

    Go to full article published by OncLive on Sep 18, 2018.

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  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from OncLive:

    “Treatment with apalutamide (Erleada) was not associated with a significant impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with high-risk nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to patient-reported outcome (PRO) data from the phase III SPARTAN trial.

    “In the study overall, patients treated with the addition of apalutamide to standard hormone therapy also had an improvement in metastasis-free survival (MFS) and longer time to symptomatic progression compared with those who were treated with placebo.”

    Go to full article published by OncLive on Sep 17, 2018.

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  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from Cancer Network:

    “Outcomes for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer did not differ when treated with sequential chemotherapy plus trastuzumab compared with a concurrent approach, according to a new phase III trial.

    ” ‘The effectiveness of trastuzumab with chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant setting is evident; however, the cardiac safety of trastuzumab combined with anthracyclines has been questioned,’ wrote study authors led by Kelly K. Hunt, MD, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.”

    Go to full article published by Cancer Network on Sep 7, 2018.

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  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from Cancer Network:

    “A phase I trial found promising activity and good tolerability with the combination of pembrolizumab and a stimulant of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) known as SD-101 in patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma, particularly in those who had not received prior anti–programmed death 1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) therapy.

    “PD-1/PD-L1 inhibition has improved outcomes in metastatic melanoma, and studies have indicated that combination therapy can increase immune responses further. “Despite the improvement in response rates with combination immunotherapy, a large unmet need remains,” wrote study authors led by Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.”

    Go to full article published by Cancer Network on Sep 5, 2018.

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  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from The ASCO Post:

    In patients with advanced BRAF V600–mutant melanoma, combining the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib (Braftovi) with the MEK inhibitor binimetinib (Mektovi) improved overall survival compared to vemurafenib (Zelboraf) or encorafenib as monotherapy, with a favorable toxicity profile, according to updated results from the phase III COLUMBUS trial.

    “Combined BRAF/MEK inhibitor therapy is standard of care in advanced BRAF V600–mutant melanoma, but approved combinations have unique toxicities that may impact the ability to deliver optimal treatment (ie, vemurafenib/cobimetinib [Cotellic] is associated with photosensitivity).”

    Go to full article published by The ASCO Post on Sep 10, 2018.

    If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.