July 2021

In 2019, the FDA granted accelerated approval for PADCEV for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have previously received a PD-1/L1 inhibitor and a platinum-containing chemotherapy before (neoadjuvant) or after (adjuvant) surgery, or in a locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer setting. The Read more…

A recent study found that Black patients with ovarian cancer continue to have worse survival outcomes, but the data suggests that adherence to treatment guidelines may not be the cause. This research was presented during the ASCO 2021 Annual Meeting (Abstract 5552).​ “Racial disparities exist in outcomes for many cancers, Read more…

In the first head-to-head trial of BTKs in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, acalabrutinib demonstrated non-inferior progression-free survival with less cardiotoxicity and fewer discontinuations due to adverse events when compared to ibrutinib, according to findings presented at the ASCO 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting (Abstract 7500). “Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, for a long time, Read more…

Approximately 10 percent of cancer cases worldwide are thought to be caused by viruses. Viruses can be roughly divided into two types—those that have DNA as their genetic material and those that have RNA. The effects of both types of viruses on cancer development are highly complicated. Both have been Read more…

Back when people first heard about Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines, the mRNA technology behind them sounded like the stuff of science fiction. But while the mRNA approach seems revolutionary, long before anyone had heard of COVID-19, researchers had been developing mRNA vaccines to fight cancer, autoimmune diseases such as multiple Read more…

Men with particularly aggressive prostate cancers can be treated more effectively by combining an existing targeted medicine, abiraterone, with a new experimental drug to block two of cancer’s growth signals at once, a major new trial shows. The new combination extended the time before prostate cancers progressed and spread further Read more…

A recent study examining the scientific rationale and clinical results of ibrutinib combinations in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) found that the combination of ibrutinib and targeted agent venetoclax may provide high complete response rates and, importantly, high rates of undetectable minimal residual disease (MRD; Blood Cancer J. 2021). Low complete remission rates, Read more…

Rituximab-abbs may have more economic benefits compared to rituximab in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), rheumatoid arthritis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and microscopic polyangiitis, according to a study presented at the virtual 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting. These findings were presented by Elizabeth James, MD, Aventine Consulting, LLC, Read more…

Between high-risk and nonhigh-risk patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) initiating first-line chemoimmunotherapy, high-risk patients experience greater risk of next treatment or death, treatment failure, and higher costs, according to a real-world study presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting. The economic burden for patients Read more…