Sydney Researchers Identify/Advance Potential Revolutionary New Drug Treatment for Fatal Childhood Cancer Bookmark

A press release from the Children’s Cancer Institute outlines hopeful results from experiments performed in mice and 3-D computer models that investigated a new treatment for the rare childhood brain tumor diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). The treatment consists of a combination of the drugs difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) and AMXT 1501. This combo is already being tested in clinical trials in adults with cancer, and will soon be tested in children with DIPG.

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Chemo for Glioblastoma May Work Better in Morning Than Evening Bookmark

A press release from ScienceDaily outlines results from a small study of patients receiving a standard, FDA-approved treatment (temozolomide) for glioblastoma. The results suggest that some patients may survive a few months longer, all because of time of day for administering the drug.

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FDA Approves New Treatment For Adults With Relapsed Or Refractory Large-B-Cell Lymphoma Bookmark

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a cell-based gene therapy known as lisocabtagene maraleucel (brand name Breyanzi) for relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma.

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Nivolumab: First Adjuvant Immunotherapy to Show Survival Benefit in High-Risk Muscle-Invasive Urothelial Cancer Bookmark

The ASCO Post reports new results from a clinical trial in which the drug nivolumab (Opdivo) nearly doubled progression-free survival compared to a placebo drug for people with muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

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Long-Term Survival Data for Olaparib Maintenance in Ovarian Cancer Show Clinically Meaningful Boost Bookmark

Cancer Network reports results from 5 years of follow up for a clinical trial in which the drug olaparib (Lynparza) was given to people who had already been treated for relapsed, high-grade serous, or endometrioid ovarian cancer—including primary peritoneal or fallopian tube cancer. Overall survival data show that olaparib outperformed a placebo drug for these patients, suggesting the possibility that it could be an effective “maintenance therapy.”

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FDA Grants Full Approval to Sacituzumab Govitecan for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Bookmark

Recurrent triple-negative breast cancer is particularly difficult to treat. As reported by Cancer Network, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now approved the drug sacituzumab govitecan (Trodelvy) for treating people with this disease, depending on their stage and treatment history.

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Adjuvant Nivolumab in Resected Esophageal or Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer Bookmark

An academic research paper published in The New England Journal of Medicine reports new results from a phase III, randomized, double-blinded, controlled clinical trial. In the trial, people with esophageal or gastroesophageal junction cancer that had been surgically resected were treated with either a placebo drug or the drug nivolumab. All patients had previously received chemotherapy before resection and had residual disease after surgery. The findings suggest that nivolumab may be beneficial, as median disease-free survival in was doubled (22 versus 11 months) in the nivolumab treated group compared to the placebo group.

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Lenvatinib/Pembrolizumab Improves Survival in Advanced Endometrial Cancer Bookmark

The ASCO Post reports on new results from a clinical trial testing a combination of the drugs lenvatinib and pembrolizumab in people with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. The results show that, compared to standard chemotherapy, this drug combo improves both overall and progression-free survival—according to both statistical and clinical analysis.

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Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)—An Overview Bookmark

Overview from Medscape curated by Contributing Editor George Lundberg, MD, who notes:

This 2020 encyclopedic update with treatment options for all stages of acute myeloid leukemia is comprehensive and clear. (Free registration required, written with a physician audience in mind.)

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COVID-19 Vaccination: The VOICE for Patients with Cancer Bookmark

This piece from the scientific journal Nature Medicine describes a new clinical trial studying vaccination against COVID-19 specifically in patients with cancer. 

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