The FDA granted accelerated approval to pralsetinib (Gavreto, Blueprint Medicines) for adults with metastatic RET fusion–positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) detected by an FDA-approved test. “Targeted therapies have dramatically improved care for patients with non-small cell lung cancer driven by oncogenes, including EGFR and ALK, and the approval of the selective Read more…
The FDA approved relugolix (Orgovyx, Myovant Sciences), the first oral androgen deprivation therapy for adults with advanced prostate cancer. As the first oral drug in this class, relugolix may reduce or eliminate the need for some patients “to visit the clinic for treatments that require administration by a health care Read more…
Cancer drugs represented the lion’s share of new drug approvals in 2020, with 21 novel agents expected to be approved. In a presentation at the AMCP Nexus 2020 Virtual meeting, Aimee Tharaldson, PharmD, a senior clinical pharmacist in emerging therapeutics at Express Scripts, highlighted several important agents approved this year. Read more…
The FDA approved new indications for olaparib (Lynparza, AstraZeneca) and bevacizumab-awwb (Mvasi, Amgen) to be used in combination for the maintenance treatment of adults with advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. Read More…
The FDA granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda, Merck) in combination with chemo-therapy for the treatment of patients with locally recurrent unresectable or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) whose tumors express programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1; combined positive score [CPS] ≥10), as determined by an FDA-approved test. Read More…
Among cancer survivors with chronic musculoskeletal pain, auricular acupuncture—also called battlefield acupuncture—was inferior to electroacupuncture at reducing pain and was associated with higher rates of discontinuation, according to a new study. Read More…
The ongoing fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has been fierce, and cancer patients have been affected in myriad ways. From a higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 disease to a population-level reduction in screening and surveillance, outcomes for cancer patients have worsened during the pandemic. Read More…
Overall survival (OS) is improved when patients with previously untreated advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) or esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma (EGJ) receive the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab with chemotherapy rather than chemotherapy alone, according to data from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-590 trial. Read More…
The FDA approved osimertinib (Tagrisso, AstraZeneca) for adjuvant therapy after tumor resection in adults with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R mutations. Read More…