Long-term follow-up from a phase Ib trial in newly diagnosed and previously treated patients with advanced melanoma showed that 40 percent of patients were alive three years after starting Keytruda (pembrolizumab), with similar 36-month overall survival rates in both groups.
Results from a pre-specified interim analysis from the phase III J-ALEX study found that Alecensa (alectinib) reduced the risk of disease worsening or death by 66 percent compared to (Xalkori) crizotinib in Japanese people with advanced or recurrent ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (HR=0.34, 99% CI: 0.17-0.70, p<0.0001) who had not received prior treatment with an ALK inhibitor.
FDA granted accelerated approval to Tecentriq (atezolizumab) for urothelial carcinoma, the most common type of bladder cancer. This is the first product in its class of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors approved to treat this type of cancer, according to the drug's sponsor, Genentech.
A retrospective analysis found that the location of the primary tumor within the colon predicts survival and may help inform optimal treatment selection for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.
Early findings from a phase III clinical trial showed that patients with multiple myeloma who received an autologous stem cell transplant survived longer without disease progression than those who received only chemotherapy using novel agents.
The Clinical Cancer Letter received a rebuttal letter for publication from the GOG Foundation and its president, Philip DiSaia, regarding the article “Study: Reolysin-Paclitaxel Combination Demonstrates Higher Response Than Paclitaxel Therapy Alone” which appeared in the March 2016 issue.
FDA granted accelerated approval to Venclexta tablets (venetoclax) for patients diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia with 17p deletion, as detected by an FDA-approved test, who have received at least one prior therapy.
NCI CTEP-Approved Trials for the Month of April
Researchers at UC Davis have shown that radiation therapy following surgery benefits older patients more than younger patients when treating soft tissue sarcomas.
A five-year study showed that stereotactic body radiation therapy to treat prostate cancer offers a higher cure rate than more traditional approaches, according to researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center.
