Wayne Kuznar

Updated results from the phase III COLUMBUS trial show continued prolonged progression-free and overall survival with the combination of encorafenib and binimetinib compared with BRAF inhibition alone in patients with advanced/metastatic BRAF V600-mutant melanoma.

The efficacy of larotrectinib is supported in distinct patient populations with TRK fusion cancer—specifically pediatric patients and adult or pediatric patients with brain metastases or primary central nervous system tumors.

Adding the Akt inhibitor capivasertib to fulvestrant led to a more than doubling of progression-free survival compared with fulvestrant alone in patients with endocrine-resistant estrogen receptor-positive advanced breast cancer.

Margetuximab, a novel Fc-engineered HER2-targeted antibody, improved progression-free survival compared with trastuzumab in patients with pretreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer in the open-label phase III SOPHIA clinical trial.

The triplet of the PD-1 inhibitor spartalizumab, dabrafenib, and trametinib led to a complete response in more than 40% of patients with previously untreated advanced BRAF V600–mutant melanoma.

Examination of a cohort of patients with metastatic breast cancer and high mutational burden who were enrolled in the phase II Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry basket study shows that pembrolizumab monotherapy has antitumor activity in this population of heavily pretreated patients.

Among patients with locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) who were enrolled in the pivotal EMPOWER-CSCC-1 phase II study, cemiplimab exhibited substantial antitumor activity and induced durable responses similar to those experienced in patients with metastatic CSCC who were enrolled in the same study.

Although CAR T-cell therapy has not yet proved effective against solid tumors, a novel CAR that targets mesothelin proteins expressed in pancreatic cancer is showing early signs of activity.

Although TMB is associated with responses to checkpoint inhibitor therapy, more research is needed to better understand how TMB interacts with other genomic correlates of the immune cycle before the biomarker can be incorporated into clinical practice.

An updated guideline (version 1.2019) from the NCCN for the management of ovarian cancer recommends specific PARP inhibitors for the treatment of recurrent disease, describes patient selection criteria for each agent, and establishes criteria for PARP inhibitor maintenance therapy.

With careful monitoring, discontinuation of TKI therapy is considered safe in adult patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase, who achieve and maintain a major molecular response.

The 2019 National Comprehensive Cancer Network guideline on the management of advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma undergoes a major shift in risk category used to define preferred and alternative first-line treatments.

Single-agent pembrolizumab (Keytruda) showed encouraging antitumor activity as first-line treatment in patients with non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma, especially in those with papillary or unclassified histology.

The overall response rate achieved with with the combination of savolitinib and durvalumabin in patients with metastatic papillary renal cell carcinoma in the phase II CALYPSO study did not meet the prespecified criterion for further investigation of the regimen.

The combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and cabozantinib (Cabometyx) has antitumor activity in patients with previously treated metastatic renal cell carcinoma and is tolerated at their separate approved doses for this indication.

Sacituzumab govitecan exhibited significant clinical activity in an open-label, single-arm phase I/II basket study of patients with heavily pretreated, relapsed/refractory metastatic urothelial cancer.

In a real-world setting, patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who received radium-223 dichloride with abiraterone acetate in a layered fashion experienced a lower rate of symptomatic skeletal events compared with those who received the treatments concurrently.

The addition of enzalutamide (Xtandi) to androgen deprivation therapy significantly prolonged radiographic progression-free survival compared with ADT alone in men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.

Darolutamide added to androgen deprivation therapy significantly improved metastasis-free survival compared with placebo plus ADT in patients with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer enrolled in the phase III ARAMIS trial.

The combination use of durvalumab and tremelimumab plus best supportive care prolonged median overall survival by 2.5 months compared with supportive care alone in patients with advanced refractory colorectal cancer.

Clinical outcomes with the combination of encorafenib, binimetinib, and cetuximab exceed historic data in patients with BRAF V600E-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer.

The oral multi-kinase inhibitor regorafenib extended progression-free survival in patients with metastatic or unresectable biliary tract cancer who were previously treated with gemcitabine and a platinum-based chemotherapy.

The combination of dabrafenib and trametinib induced responses in nearly half of patients with BRAF V600E–mutated biliary tract cancer who participated in a phase II basket trial that enrolled patients with BRAF V600E–mutated rare cancers.

The novel oral anticancer regimen known as SM-88, which consists of a tyrosine derivative, an mTOR inhibitor, a CYP3a4 inducer, and an oxidative stress catalyst, has promising efficacy with no meaningful toxicity in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who have progressed on at least 1 prior line of therapy.

The combination of nivolumab and ramucirumab has activity in patients with previously treated advanced gastric adenocarcinoma, investigators reported at the 2019 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Patients with HER2-positive early or locally advanced breast cancer who were exposed to reference trastuzumab lots with a marked downward shift in antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) had worse outcomes than those not exposed to at least 1 shifted ADCC lot or those treated with its biosimilar.

The frontline induction treatment of bendamustine and rituximab has improved event-free surviva compared with R-CHOP therapy in patients with mantle cell lymphoma.

Out-of-pocket expenditures are substantially less among Medicare beneficiaries with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy who receive prophylaxis for febrile neutropenia with a filgrastim biosimilar as opposed to the reference product.

CT-P6, a proposed biosimilar to trastuzumab, exhibited long-term disease-free survival and overall survival similar to the reference product in the treatment of patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer.

Single-agent venetoclax (Venclexta) led to durable responses in patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma with a low rate of late-onset toxicities.