The NCI Board of Scientific Advisors approved 11 new and reissued concepts at a joint meeting of the BSA and the National Cancer Advisory Board Dec. 7-9.
On Dec. 9, 1971, Benno C. Schmidt delivered a speech that sets the stage for the new era slated to begin exactly two weeks later, on Dec. 23, with the signing of the National Cancer Act by President Nixon.
Jonathan Wesley Riess was named medical director of UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Thoracic Oncology Program, replacing David R. Gandara, who will soon be co-directing a new center in experimental cancer therapeutics. Riess’ appointment is effective immediately.
Eric M. Horwitz was appointed chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine, following an announcement that Fox Chase Cancer Center’s Department of Radiation Oncology has been integrated within Temple University Health System.
United for Medical Research released a video tribute honoring NIH Director Francis Collins, who plans to step down this year.
A phase II trial investigating the anti-TIGIT cancer immunotherapy tiragolumab plus Tecentriq (atezolizumab) compared with Tecentriq alone as a first-line treatment for people with PD-L1-positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer showed that the combination improved progression-free survival.
A University of Toronto-led study found that only 59% of oncology clinical trials studied provided adequately-defined rules for censoring.
FDA approved Orencia (abatacept) for the prophylaxis of acute graft vs. host disease (aGVHD), in combination with a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) and methotrexate (MTX), in adults and pediatric patients two years of age and older undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from a matched or one allele-mismatched unrelated donor.
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency has adopted a positive opinion recommending approval of Keytruda (pembrolizumab), an anti-PD-1 therapy, as monotherapy for the adjuvant treatment of adults with renal cell carcinoma at increased risk of recurrence following nephrectomy, or following nephrectomy and resection of metastatic lesions.
Inceptor Bio executed an in-licensing agreement with the University of California, Santa Barbara for an investigational chimeric antigen receptor macrophage (CAR-M) therapy targeting difficult-to-treat tumors.
