In the first such clinical trial in the United States, physician-scientists with the University of Maryland School of Medicine are investigating the use of MRI-guided focused ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier. The trial will be conducted with patients undergoing brain cancer surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Researchers at UC Davis, Genentech, and Foundation Medicine are the first to show that a blood-based test to assess tumor mutational burden accurately identifies non-small cell lung cancer patients who could benefit from immunotherapies called checkpoint inhibitors.
A study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute has identified specific genes associated with increased risk for triple-negative breast cancer, providing the basis for better risk management.
The global age-standardized lung cancer mortality rate among women is projected to increase by 43 percent from 2015 to 2030, according to an analysis of data from 52 countries. The global age-standardized breast cancer mortality rate is projected to decrease by 9 percent in the same time frame. The data was published in Cancer Research.
Novocure said the results of its INNOVATE phase II pilot study have been published in Gynecologic Oncology. The INNOVATE study was a prospective, single-arm study testing the feasibility, safety and preliminary efficacy of Tumor Treating Fields combined with weekly paclitaxel in recurrent ovarian cancer.
Lili Yang, a researcher at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA, has received a Quest Discovery Program award totaling approximately $1.4 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
The global, randomized, phase III ALTA-1L trial met its primary endpoint at the first pre-specified interim analysis, with Alunbrig (brigatinib) demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival compared to crizotinib in adults with anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer who had not received a prior ALK inhibitor.
FDA approved Tibsovo (ivosidenib) tablets for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia who have a specific genetic mutation. This first drug in its class (IDH1 inhibitors) is approved for use with an FDA-approved companion diagnostic used to detect specific mutations in the IDH1 gene in patients with AML.
Genentech said the phase III IMpower132 study met its co-primary endpoint of progression-free survival and demonstrated that the combination of Tecentriq (atezolizumab) plus chemotherapy (cisplatin or carboplatin plus pemetrexed) reduced the risk of disease worsening or death compared to chemotherapy alone in the initial treatment of advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.
Analysis of cancer death data from 2008-2014 in New York state revealed high cancer mortality rates among U.S.-born blacks and Puerto Ricans and relatively low cancer mortality rates among Hispanic South Americans and Asians.
