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On September 4, 2020, the FDA accelerated the approval of pralsetinib (Gavreto; Blueprint Medicines/Genentech), an oral RET inhibitor, for the treatment of adults with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and RET-activating fusions, as detected by an FDA-approved test. Read More ›

Treatment with the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) significantly extended progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma compared with standard treatment with brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris), according to the results of the phase 3 KEYNOTE-204 clinical trial reported at the ASCO 2020 virtual annual meeting. Read More ›

Capmatinib (Tabrecta), a selective inhibitor of the mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) receptor, showed significant antitumor activity in patients with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and gene mutations that lead to MET exon 14 skipping, according to the results of a recently published study. Read More ›

The following clinical trials represent a selection of key studies currently recruiting patients with lung cancer for inclusion in investigations of new therapies and new regimens of existing treatments for the disease. Each clinical trial description includes the NLM Identifier to be used as a reference with ClinicalTrials.gov. This information can help oncology practice managers and providers direct eligible patients to one of these clinical trials. Read More ›

Cancer health disparities remain a challenge in the United States, despite some strides being made to reduce these disparities, according to a new report from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) that was released in a virtual presentation on September 16, 2020. Furthermore, many of the populations affected by cancer care disparities are the ones affected by disparities related to the COVID-19 pandemic, AACR experts said. Read More ›

The combination of cabozantinib (Cabometyx), a second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), plus nivolumab (Opdivo), an immune checkpoint inhibitor, significantly improved overall survival (OS) and doubled the objective response rates (ORR) compared with the current standard, sunitinib (Sutent), in treatment-naïve patients with advanced renal-cell carcinoma (RCC), according to the results of the phase 3 CheckMate-9ER clinical trial. The results were presented at the 2020 European Society for Medical Oncology virtual meeting and were featured at the meeting press conference. Read More ›

A real-world analysis showed that adjuvant immunotherapy in patients with stage III melanoma improved survival, but that only approximately 33% of eligible patients received such adjuvant therapy after ipilimumab (Yervoy) was approved by the FDA for this indication. Read More ›

Adding the oral cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)4/CDK6 inhibitor abemaciclib (Verzenio) to endocrine therapy led to a significant reduction in the risk for invasive disease recurrence versus endocrine therapy alone in patients with high-risk hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer, according to findings from the phase 3 monarchE clinical trial. The results were presented at the 2020 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) virtual meeting and were featured at the meeting press conference. Read More ›

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only resulted in adjustments to the current Oncology Care Model (OCM), but it has led to considerations for future models, said Lara M. Strawbridge, MPH, Director, Ambulatory Payment Models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), Washington, DC, during the 2020 virtual National Comprehensive Cancer Network Oncology Policy Summit. Read More ›

Value-based or alternative payment models have yet to deliver the cost-savings in oncology hoped for when these models were proposed, said experts at the 2020 virtual National Comprehensive Cancer Network Oncology Policy Summit during a panel discussion on best practices for value-based agreements. Read More ›