Latest Conference Articles

Mixed Results for Pembrolizumab in Phase III HNSCC Study

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) reduced the risk of death compared with standard of care therapy in patients with relapsed/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, but the difference fell just shy of statistical significance.

Dr. Pal Compares CheckMate-214 and CABOSUN Trials in RCC

Sumanta K. Pal, MD, medical oncologist, assistant clinical professor, Department of Medical Oncology and Therapeutics Research, City of Hope, discusses both the CheckMate-214 and CABOSUN trials for patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Disease-Free Survival Gains Reported for Vemurafenib in Stage IIC-IIIB Melanoma

Adjuvant therapy with vemurafenib for high-risk melanoma led to mixed results, as patients with stage IIIC or later did not benefit, but those with earlier stage disease did.

Dr. Dummer on COMBI-AD Trial Results in BRAF-Mutant Melanoma

Reinhard Dummer, MD, of University Hospital Zurich, discusses the results of the phase III COMBI-AD study presented at the 2017 ESMO Congress in patients with stage III BRAF-mutant melanoma.

Dr. Ramalingam on FLAURA Findings in EGFR-Mutant NSCLC

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

Combined Niraparib and Bevacizumab Shows Promising Activity in Recurrent Ovarian Cancer

The combination of bevacizumab plus niraparib demonstrated clinical activity in women with relapsed, platinum-sensitive epithelial ovarian cancer and had a manageable toxicity profile.

Pazopanib Regimen Active, But Misses Mark in Leiomyosarcoma

Although second-line treatment with combined pazopanib and gemcitabine demonstrated disease control in the majority of patients with metastatic or relapsed uterine or soft tissue leiomyosarcomas, the phase II UNICANCER SARCOME 11 study did not meet statistical endpoints and is considered a negative trial.

PFR Unaffected by Sequence of Cytoreductive Nephrectomy and Sunitinib in Patients With Synchronous mRCC

Treating primary tumors by administering targeted therapy with sunitinib (Sutent) prior to cytoreductive nephrectomy did not improve the progression-free rate at 28 weeks over a sequence of immediate CN followed by sunitinib in patients with synchronous metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Nivolumab Superior to Ipilimumab as Adjuvant Therapy for Stage III/IV Resected Melanoma

Nivolumab (Opdivo) may represent a new standard option for adjuvant therapy for patients with resected stage IIIB/C and IV melanoma, whether or not they have a BRAF mutation. In a comparison with current standard high-dose ipilimumab (Yervoy), nivolumab demonstrated a significant improvement in relapse-free survival.

Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Improves Survival Versus Sunitinib in mRCC

The combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) was superior to sunitinib (Sutent) monotherapy as first-line treatment of advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Dr. Hamid on Epacadostat Plus Pembrolizumab in Advanced Melanoma

Omid Hamid, MD, director of the melanoma center at the Angeles Clinic & Research Institute in Los Angeles, discusses the phase III results of the ECHO-202/KEYNOTE-037 trial, which explored the IDO inhibitor epacadostat plus pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in patients with advanced melanoma.

Ramucirumab Improves PFS in Platinum-Refractory Urothelial Carcinoma

Ramucirumab (Cyramza) plus docetaxel improved progression-free survival over docetaxel alone in patients with advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have progressed on platinum-based chemotherapy.

Dr. Weber on CheckMate-238 for Melanoma

Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, deputy director and co-director of the Melanoma Program at the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, discusses the CheckMate-238 trial for patients with melanoma.

Dr. Peters Discusses the FLAURA Trial for EGFR-Mutated NSCLC

Solange Peters, MD, PhD, head of the Thoracic Malignancies Program in the Department of Oncology at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, discusses the FLAURA trial for patients with EGFR-mutated non

CABOSUN Update Affirms PFS Advantage With Cabozantinib Over Sunitinib in Advanced RCC

Patients with untreated advanced renal cell carcinoma lived significantly longer without disease progression when they received the multikinase inhibitor cabozantinib (Cabometyx) as initial therapy versus sunitinib (Sutent).

Combination Lenvatinib/Pembrolizumab Has Antitumor Activity in Metastatic Clear Cell RCC

Lenvatinib (Lenvima) combined with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) demonstrated promising antitumor activity in patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Atezolizumab Plus Bevacizumab Shows Encouraging Clinical Activity in mRCC

Atezolizumab with bevacizumab provided improved progression-free survival over sunitinib in patients with untreated metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Frontline Dabrafenib/Trametinib Effective for BRAF+ NSCLC

Frontline treatment with the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib showed promising clinical efficacy for patients with BRAF-mutant metastatic non–small cell lung cancer.

Adjuvant Dabrafenib/Trametinib Doubles RFS for BRAF+ Melanoma

Adjuvant treatment with dabrafenib and trametinib reduced the risk of relapse or death by 53% compared with placebo for patients with stage III BRAF-mutant melanoma.

Pembrolizumab Shows Greater Long-Term Benefits Versus Chemo for Urothelial Carcinoma

Mature results from the phase III KEYNOTE-045 study presented at the 2017 ESMO Congress demonstrated that overall survival with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) continued to improve compared to chemotherapy in patients with recurrent, advanced urothelial carcinoma.

Dr. Mirza on Niraparib Plus Bevacizumab Combo in Ovarian Cancer

Mansoor Raza Mirza, MD, chief oncologist in the Department of Oncology in Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark, and medical director of the Nordic Society of Gynecologic Oncology-Clinical Trial Unit, discusses phase I results of a trial exploring the combination of niraparib (Zejula) and bevacizumab (Avastin) in patients with platinum-sensitive epithelial ovarian cancer.

Dr. Choueiri on Impact of CABOSUN Results in Renal Cell Carcinoma

Toni K. Choueiri, MD, clinical director, Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, director, Kidney Cancer Center, senior physician, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the significance of the phase II CABOSUN trial, which explored cabozantinib (Cabometyx) as a frontline therapy for patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Enhanced Post-Surgery Surveillance Not Linked to Longer OS in NSCLC

Expanding surveillance after surgery for early-stage non–small cell lung cancer from chest x-ray to follow-up with PET-CT scan did not improve overall survival.

PD-1/IDO Combination Active in Advanced Melanoma

A majority of patients with advanced melanoma responded to the combination of pembrolizumab and the investigational IDO1 inhibitor epacadostat.

Abemaciclib Improves PFS for HR+/HER2- Advanced Breast Cancer

The addition of abemaciclib to anastrozole or letrozole reduced the risk of progression or death by 46% compared with the non-steroidal aromatase inhibitors alone for previously untreated patients with HER2-negative, HR-positive advanced breast cancer.

Denosumab May Help Some With Bone Tumors Avoid Surgery

More than one-third of patients with resectable giant cell tumor of bone avoided surgery and nearly half had less morbidity with surgery when treated with denosumab (Xgeva).

Nab-Paclitaxel Alone and With Durvalumab Shows Promise in NSCLC

Nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) monotherapy has efficacy in patients with pretreated advanced nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer that is not improved by the addition of CC-486.

Immune System Priming Prior to Checkpoint Blockade Improves Response in Metastatic TNBC

Turning a nonimmunogenic (“cold”) tumor into an immunogenic (“hot”) tumor appears feasible in patients with metastatic triple negative breast cancer, thereby improving sensitivity to immune therapy with nivolumab.

Binimetinib Adds to Encorafenib PFS Benefit for BRAF+ Melanoma

The combination of encorafenib and binimetinib demonstrated significant improvements in PFS compared with single-agent vemurafenib or encorafenib for patients with BRAF-mutant advanced melanoma.

Dr. Palmerini on Long-term Efficacy of Denosumab in Giant Cell Tumor of Bone

Emanuela Palmerini, MD, Prometeo Laboratory: Clinical and Experimental Research Contract, Chemotherapy for Rare Musculoskeletal Tumors Department, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, discusses the long-term efficacy of denosumab (Xgeva) in patients with giant cell tumor of bone.