Emma Shtivelman, PhD Cancer Commons Chief Scientist

  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from Healio:

    “The FDA granted priority review designation to a supplemental biologics license application that seeks approval of pembrolizumab for use in combination with chemotherapy as first-line treatment of metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer regardless of PD-L1 expression.

    “The agency set a target action date of Oct. 30.”

    Go to full article published by Healio on July 2, 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.

  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from Targeted Oncology:

    “The first patient has been dosed in a phase I/II open-label, multicenter trial investigating a novel immunotherapy combination in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM). Fifty patients have been accrued in the trial, as of May 31, 2018, which will be conducted at 25 sites across the nation.

    “This study aims to investigate the efficacy of INO-5401, a T-cell activating immunotherapy agent encoding multiple antigens in GBM, and INO-9012, an immune activator encoding IL-12, in combination with the PD-1 inhibitor cemiplimab (REGN2810).”

    Go to full article published by Targeted Oncology on July 9, 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.

  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from Healio:

    “Treatment-emergent small cell neuroendocrine prostate cancer, a particularly deadly subtype of the disease, occurs in nearly one-fifth of all cases of metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer, study data showed.

    “Researchers suggested that the subtype should be treated with novel targeted therapies that are currently in the development or testing phase.”

    Go to full article published by Healio on July 9, 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.

  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from MedPage Today:

    “Men with newly diagnosed, nonmetastatic prostate cancer had a 5-year failure-free survival (FFS) of 88% when treated with focal high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy, results of a multicenter European clinical experience showed.

    “The 625-patient cohort had a 5-year overall survival of 99%, and none of the patients died of prostate cancer during a median follow-up of 56 months. In a subgroup of men who submitted questionnaires on patient-reported outcomes, 98% said they did not require absorbent pads for urinary incontinence.”

    Go to full article published by MedPage Today on July 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.

  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from Healio:

    “The use of steroids at baseline was associated with inferior survival outcomes in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who were starting either PD-1 or PD-L1 blockade therapy, according to retrospective data presented at ASCO Annual Meeting.

    ” ‘Treatment with PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors is now standard therapy for nearly all patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer,’ Kathryn C. Arbour, MD, a fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said during her presentation. ‘The potential impact of steroids in patients with PD-1 or PD-L1 blockade has been an open question. Steroids are frequently used as a supportive medication in cancer care and can provide rapid relief of numerous cancer-related symptoms, including dyspnea, anorexia, pain, fatigue and symptoms associated with brain metastases. However … [physicians] routinely recognize that there can be substantial toxicities associated with long-term steroid use.’ ”

    Go to full article published by Healio on July 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.

  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from OncLive:

    “The FDA has approved enzalutamide (Xtandi) for the treatment of patients with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), according to Pfizer and Astellas, the codevelopers of the antiandrogen agent.

    “The approval is based on the phase III PROSPER trial, in which the combination of enzalutamide (Xtandi) and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) reduced the risk of metastases or death by 71% compared with ADT alone for patients with nonmetastatic CRPC. In the double-blind study, the median metastasis-free survival (MFS) was 36.6 months with enzalutamide plus ADT versus 14.7 months with ADT alone (HR, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.24-0.35; P <.0001).”

    Go to full article published by OncLive on July 13, 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.

  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt from UPI:

    “A type of therapy that harnesses the immune system is giving new hope to people battling a once hopeless cancer — melanoma that’s spread to the brain.

    “New research involving more than 2,700 U.S. patients is confirming what specialists in the field have long known — that “checkpoint blockade” treatment can beat back these devastating tumors.”

    Go to full article published by UPI on July 12, 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.

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    Promising Updates from Clinical Trials for Small Cell Lung Cancer

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has not changed much in the last 20 years. This cancer is truly one of the most difficult to treat. Even though the response rate to standard first-line chemotherapy with cisplatin and etoposide is relatively high, relapses and recurrences within months of treatment completion are practically universal, and there are no second-line treatments that really work. There… Read more »

  •   Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt:

    “Black men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) who received hormonal therapy with the adrenal inhibitor abiraterone had greater and longer-lasting responses compared with white men, according to the results of a late-breaking study (abstract LBA5009) presented at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, held in Chicago June 1–5.

    “The prospective study found that black men were more likely to have a decline in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and had a longer median time to PSA worsening than white men. The findings were presented by Daniel George, MD, professor of medicine and surgery at Duke University.”

    Go to full article published by Cancer Network on Jun 2, 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.

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    Practice-Changing Developments in Treatment of Metastatic NSCLC

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs that target the proteins PD-1 and PD-L1 are by now well established in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab (Opdivo), an anti-PD-1 drug, for treatment of patients with metastatic NSCLC who progressed or relapsed after platinum-based chemotherapy. Atezolizumab (Tecentriq), an anti-PD-L1 drug, was approved in 2016 for… Read more »