• April 8, 2019  

    FDA Approves Atezolizumab for Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer Bookmark

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt:

    “On March 18, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in combination with carboplatin and etoposide for the first-line treatment of adult patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.

    Approval was based on the IMpower133 study, a randomized (1:1), multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 403 patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer who received no prior chemotherapy for extensive stage disease and had ECOG performance status 0 or 1.”

    Go to full article published by The ASCO Post on March 19, 2019.

    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.

  • April 8, 2019  

    Atezolizumab/Nab-Paclitaxel Approved by the FDA for PD-L1+ TNBC Bookmark

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt:

    “An accelerated approval has been granted by the FDA for the combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) and nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) as a frontline treatment for patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic PD-L1–positive triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

    “The approval is based on the phase III IMpassion130 trial, in which the addition of the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab to nab-paclitaxel reduced the risk of progression or death by 40% compared with nab-paclitaxel alone in this patient population.”

    Go to full article published by Targeted Oncology on March 8, 2019.

    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.

  • April 8, 2019  

    A Single Dose of a PD-1 Inhibitor Before Surgery May Predict Outcomes in Patients With Melanoma Bookmark

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt:

    “A single dose of a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor before resection for melanoma may predict clinical outcomes for patients. Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania—who documented this finding in the largest cohort of patients to be treated with anti–PD-1 drugs before surgery—also showed that immune responses brought on by this therapy can peak as early as 7 days after treatment—much earlier than previous studies have shown. These findings were published by Huang et al in Nature Medicine.”

    Go to full article published by The ASCO Post on March 7, 2019.

    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.

  • April 3, 2019  

    What’s New in Melanoma Treatment in 2019?

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    It has been over a year since I last wrote about new developments in treatment of melanoma, and it is time for an update. There is certainly some good news for melanoma patients! Neoadjuvant (before surgery) treatments for resectable melanoma Stage III—and more rarely, stage IV—melanoma tumors that have not spread widely can be sometimes treated surgically. Last year a small clinical trial showed… Read more »

  • March 18, 2019  

    xCures to Implement an Intermediate Size Expanded Access Protocol for ONC201 in H3 K27M-mutant Gliomas

    LOS ALTOS, Calif., March 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — xCures and Cancer Commons are pleased to announce a collaboration with Oncoceutics to implement an Expanded Access program for ONC201. Part of this Expanded Access program is an intermediate size Expanded Access protocol for ONC201 in patients with H3 K27M-mutant glioma entitled “ONC018: Expanded Access to ONC201 for Patients with H3 K27M-mutant and/or Midline High Grade Gliomas” that… Read more »

  • March 7, 2019  

    Lung-MAP Precision Medicine Trial Expands Bookmark

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt:

    “The Lung Cancer Master Protocol (Lung-MAP), the first precision medicine trial in lung cancer supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), is undergoing a major expansion to include patients with all non–small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs).

    “The trial previously tested treatments for people with advanced-stage squamous cell lung cancer. Opening the trial to all types of advanced-stage NSCLCs means that thousands of new patients will be eligible to enroll.”

    Go to full article published by The ASCO Post on Feb 1, 2019.

    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.

  • March 6, 2019  

    Cancer Commons and xCures Invite Participation from Patients Who Try New Combo Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer

    Treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancer has seen progress in recent years, but outcomes remain poor and treatment advances that can prolong patients’ lives, even for a few months, are eagerly awaited. Two papers published today in the scientific journal Nature Medicine report that a new combination of two drugs that are FDA-approved for other conditions may significantly delay progression of pancreatic cancer in cells… Read more »

  • February 8, 2019  

    Promising Developments for Brain Tumor Drug ONC201

    In September, we announced our collaboration with Musella Foundation, xCures, and Oncoceutics to help patients access ONC201, a potential new treatment for a type of brain tumor known as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), as well as other gliomas with a genetic mutation known as H3 K27M. Since then, several news stories have reported promising developments for ONC201. Check out the coverage: The Philadelphia Inquirer: “Cancer therapy shows promise for… Read more »

  • January 12, 2019  

    Role of Immunotherapy in the Management of Locally Advanced and Recurrent/Metastatic Cervical Cancer Bookmark

    George Lundberg, MD

    Research paper from the Journal of the National Comprehensive Care Network curated by Editor in Chief George Lundberg, MD, who notes: 

    Metastatic or advanced cervical cancer remains very difficult to treat. Immunotherapy is showing promise.

    Go to full article published in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Care Network. 

    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.

  • January 7, 2019  

    Immune Cells Track Hard-To-Target Brain Tumours Bookmark

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt:

    “Instructing the immune system to recognize and kill tumours, an approach termed cancer immunotherapy, has transformed the clinical treatment of certain types of malignancy. Prominent among these therapies are immune-checkpoint inhibitors, which block the action of proteins that dampen immune-cell responses against tumours. For example, antibodies can be used to interfere with the inhibitory protein PD-1, which is present on T cells, a type of immune cell that attacks tumours. Immune-checkpoint inhibitors have been most successfully used to treat cancers, such as melanomas, that are well infiltrated by T cells and have a large number of genetic mutations. A subset of these mutations might generate neoantigens — altered protein sequences that are uniquely produced in cancer cells and are recognized as foreign by the immune system.”

    Go to full article published by Nature on Dec 19, 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.