Latest Conference Articles

COG to Assess Targeted Therapies in a Variety of NHL Clinical Trials

The Children's Oncology Group is currently involved in 5 studies exploring targeted therapies in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that could eventually change the face of pediatric NHL treatment.

Tisagenlecleucel Safety, Efficacy Promising in Pediatric Down Syndrome and ALL

A first-time study of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy in youths with Down syndrome-associated relapsed/refractory (r/r) acute lymphoblastic leukemia produced high remission rates and toxicity results that were similar to those observed in patients with r/r ALL.

Tazemetostat Shows Antitumor Activity in INI1-Negative Pediatric Tumors

Tazemetostat demonstrated promising antitumor activity in pediatric patients with INI1-negative solid tumors.

Dr. Chi on Study of Tazemetostat in Children With INI1-Negative Tumors

Susan N. Chi, MD, senior physician, director, Pediatric Brain Tumor Clinical Trials Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, assistant professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, discusses a phase I multicenter trial of tazemetostat in children with INI1-negative tumors.

Selective T-Cell Depletion Improves Engraftment, Reduces GVHD in Pediatric/AYA Leukemia

Eliminating T cells carrying alpha and beta chains of the T-cell receptor reduced the risk for graft-versus-host-disease while producing "excellent" engraftment kinetics for young patients with acute leukemia who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplant.

2B8T2M Enhances exPBNK Expression, in Vitro Cytotoxicity in Rituximab-Sensitive/Resistant Burkitt Lymphoma

2B8T2M, a fusion of the IL-15 superantagonist ALT-803, and 4 single-chains of rituximab (Rituxan) significantly boosted the cytotoxicity of expanded peripheral blood natural killer cells against Burkitt lymphoma cells in in vitro testing.

Dr. Bailey Discusses Key Molecular Pathways in Bone Sarcoma

Kelly Bailey, MD, PhD, physician, department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, discusses key molecular pathways in pediatric bone sarcoma.

Dr. Crompton Discusses Liquid Biopsies in Pediatric Sarcoma

Brian D. Crompton, MD, physician, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, assistant professor of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, discusses the utilization of liquid biopsies in pediatric patients with sarcoma.

CAR T-Cell Therapy May Serve as a Bridge to HCT in ALL

CAR T-cell therapy can induce next generation sequencing negativity in patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia, suggesting a "synergistic" relationship with hematopoietic cell transplant.

Dr. Ferris on the Updated Data from CheckMate-141 in Head and Neck Cancer

Robert Ferris, MD, PhD, vice chair for Clinical Operations, associate director for Translational Research, and co-leader of the Cancer Immunology Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, discusses the updated findings from the CheckMate-141 trial in head and neck cancer.

Dr. Jhaveri on Results of Taselisib in PIK3CA-Mutated Metastatic Solid Tumors

Komal L. Jhaveri, MD, FACP, medical oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the results of a basket study of taselisib in patients with PIK3CA-mutated solid tumors.

Anti-PD-1 Biomarker Analysis Shows Promise for MDSCs, IFN-Gamma

A search for molecular guidance in the use of anti-PD-1 therapy in urothelial cancer pointed toward myeloid-derived suppressor cells as a potentially useful biomarker.

Mutation Burden May Help Guide First-Line Immunotherapy in NSCLC

Tumor mutational burden in non–small cell lung cancer identified patients who were more likely to respond to first-line combination immunotherapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab, an updated analysis of CheckMate-586 clinical trial data showed.

Dr. Shaw Discusses Efficacy of Lorlatinib in ALK+ NSCLC

Alice T. Shaw, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, attending physician, Thoracic Cancer Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses the efficacy of lorlatinib in ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer.

Dr. Eggermont on the Impact of Adjuvant Anti-PD-L1 Agents in Melanoma

Alexander M. M. Eggermont, MD, PhD, director general of Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus Grand Paris in Villejuif, France, discusses the impact of adjuvant anti–PD-L1 agents on the treatment landscape of melanoma.

Nivolumab OS Benefit Sustained in Long-Term Follow-Up for SCCHN

Treatment with nivolumab reduced the risk of death by 32% compared with investigator’s choice of therapy for patients with metastatic or recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

TLR9 Agonist May Reverse Resistance to PD-1 Inhibition in Melanoma

Combination use of CMP-001, an intratumoral toll-like receptor 9 agonist, and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) showed clinical activity in reversing PD-1 checkpoint inhibition resistance in patients with metastatic melanoma.

Frontline Atezolizumab Benefit in NSCLC Sustained Across Biomarker-Driven Subgroups

Adding atezolizumab to chemotherapy and an angiogenesis inhibitor led to significant improvement in progression-free survival for patients with untreated advanced nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer.

Epacadostat Falls Short Again

Adding the IDO1 inhibitor epacadostat to the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab (Imfinzi) failed to induce any clinical responses in patients with pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Sharma Discusses Updates from CheckMate-275 in Bladder Cancer

Padmanee Sharma, MD, PhD, scientific director, Immunotherapy Platform, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses updated findings from the CheckMate-275 trial in bladder cancer during an interview at the 2018 AACR Annual Meeting.

Dr. Balar on Results of Durvalumab Plus Tremelimumab in Bladder Cancer

Arjun V. Balar, MD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine, director, Genitourinary Medical Oncology Program, NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, discusses the results of a study investigating durvalumab (Imfinzi) plus tremelimumab in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer.

Frontline Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Reduces Progression Risk by 42% in TMB-High NSCLC

The combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab more than tripled the 1-year progression-free survival rate versus chemotherapy for treatment-naïve patients with non–small cell lung cancer with high tumor mutation burden.

Neoadjuvant Nivolumab Elicits Encouraging Pathologic Response Rate in Resectable NSCLC

Neoadjuvant treatment with nivolumab demonstrated a 45% major pathologic response rate in patients with resectable stage I to III non–small cell lung cancer irrespective of PD-L1 expression.

Dr. Ramalingam on the Significance of the FLAURA Trial in NSCLC

Suresh S. Ramalingam, MD, deputy director, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, discusses the significance of the phase III results of the FLAURA trial, which explored osimertinib (Tagrisso) in the frontline setting for patients with EGFR-mutant non

FT819 Derives Renewable, Reproducible Process of CAR T-Cell Therapy

An off-the-shelf, dual-targeted chimeric antigen receptor T-cell approach yielded positive results in preclinical specificity, functionality, and efficacy studies.

Frontline Pembrolizumab Combo Significantly Improves Survival in NSCLC

Combining pembrolizumab (Keytruda) with standard chemotherapy in the frontline setting reduced the risk of death by over 50% in patients with nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer without EGFR or ALK mutations.

Hint of Survival Benefit With Olaparib in HER2-Negative/BRCA-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer

Women with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer associated with a germline BRCA mutation may have a slight survival advantage with a PARP inhibitor instead of chemotherapy.

Dr. Subbiah on Safety and Efficacy of BLU-667 in RET-Altered Solid Tumors

Vivek Subbiah, MD, associate medical director, Clinical Center for Targeted Therapy, assistant professor, Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the safety and efficacy findings of BLU-667 in RET-altered solid tumors in an interview during the 2018 AACR Annual Meeting.

Dr. Schoffski Discusses Findings from the CREATE Study

Patrick Schöffski, MD, MPH, head of the Department of General Medical Oncology at the University Hospital Leuven, discusses the findings from the CREATE study during the 2018 AACR Annual Meeting.

Crizotinib Confirmed as Standard of Care for ALK+ Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumors

Treatment with crizotinib elicited an objective response rate of 50% for patients with ALK-positive advanced, inoperable inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor.