Vol. 20/No. 17

Use of immune checkpoint inhibitors was clearly associated with higher incidences of specific neurologic toxicities in a broad-based retrospective pharmacovigilance study, and clinicians need to monitor for these immune-related adverse events when using these agents.

Five melanoma experts discuss findings from several exciting studies presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting that are helping to change the way patients with malignant melanoma are treated.

A large pool of evidence exists to support the use of HIPEC in ovarian cancer, and hyperthermic and other novel intraperitoneal chemotherapies should continue to be incorporated into novel clinical trial designs.

Investigators are exploring whether lasofoxifene can stop disease progression in women with advanced or metastatic estrogen receptor (ER)–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer with an ESR1 mutation in the multicenter phase II ELAINE trial (NCT03781063).

Despite the introduction of novel therapies over the past decade, advanced prostate cancer remains an incurable disease in need of new strategies to overcome drug resistance.

New strategies to address resistance in patients with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer are in the works, thanks to a greater understanding of the cell-signaling networks activated during the course of disease.

In thyroid cancer, molecular diagnostic tests enable oncologists to evaluate thyroid nodules with atypical, suspicious, or indeterminate fine-needle aspiration cytology to determine the best course of treatment based on cytopathological result.

A 2018 Giants of Cancer Care® award winner in Melanoma and Other Skin Cancers, Caroline Robert, MD, PhD, has helped clarify the role of immune therapies in advanced melanoma with her groundbreaking work on clinical trials evaluating anti– CTLA-4 and anti–PD-1 antibodies.

Even though many challenges must be overcome before widespread adoption can occur, there is still much promise on the horizon for biosimilars.

In the past 5 years, the FDA has awarded 4 drugs 9 new indications for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancers. Although these approvals represent a welcome expansion of the therapeutic toolkit for this challenging malignancy, the arrival of new options has outpaced efforts to discover the best use for each medication.

Although CDK4/6 inhibitors are remaking the treatment landscape for patients with estrogen receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer, questions about optimal sequencing and strategies for attacking resistance and progression remain unsettled.

Treatment decisions for older patients with breast cancer should be individualized based on the fitness and frailty of the patient, making the use of geriatric assessment tools an essential element of care, according to Armin Shahrokni, MD, MPH.

A greater focus on studying mechanisms for therapies that penetrate the blood–tumor barrier and the expansion of clinical trial eligibility criteria are opening the door for advancements that may help patients with metastatic breast cancer that has spread to the brain, according to Carey K. Anders, MD.

The cost of antineoplastic therapy and essential supportive care medications have a substantial negative impact on patients with cancer and their families.