Data from PERSIST-1, a phase III trial examining pacritinib for the treatment of myelofibrosis, showed that compared to best available therapy (exclusive of a JAK inhibitor), pacritinib therapy resulted in a significantly higher proportion of patients with spleen volume reduction and control of disease-related symptoms.
Results from a retrospective analysis of the phase III SYNERGY trial showed a benefit with custirsen therapy in men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer who had a poor prognosis.
Overall survival results from the LUX-Lung 8 trial comparing two EGFR-directed treatments, Gilotrif (afatinib) and Tarceva (erlotinib), in patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the lung progressing after treatment with first-line chemotherapy, demonstrated that treatment with Gilotrif significantly reduced the risk of death by 19 percent, extending the survival of patients to a median of 7.9 months compared to 6.8 months on Tarceva.
Data from the phase III COMBI-d study showed a significant survival benefit for patients with BRAF V600E/K mutation-positive metastatic melanoma when treated with the combination of Tafinlar and Mekinist compared to Tafinlar alone.
Patients with previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma that received Imbruvica (ibrutinib) in combination with bendamustine and rituximab experienced an 80 percent reduction in the risk of progression or death when compared to patients receiving bendamustine, rituximab and placebo in a phase III trial.
FDA granted an Orphan Drug Designation to Reolysin for the treatment of malignant glioma.
The National Cancer Institute Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program approved the following clinical research studies last month. For further information, contact the principal investigator listed.
A phase II study of APD403 in the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting reported positive results in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy—either high-dose cisplatin, or cyclophosphamide and an anthracycline for breast cancer.
An independent data safety monitoring board recommended that a phase III study of zoptarelin doxorubicin in women with advanced, recurrent or metastatic endometrial cancer continue as planned, after it completed its first interim futility analysis.
Patients with metastatic stomach or esophageal cancers driven by a mutated HER2 gene had markedly improved response rates and survival when Avastin (bevacizumab) was added to a combination of capecitabine and oxaliplatin chemotherapy and Herceptin (trastuzumab).
