Combination therapy with the investigational treatment cirmtuzumab plus Imbruvica (ibrutinib) led to “highly encouraging” response rates among patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), a type of B-cell cancer, according to the latest clinical results announced by Oncternal Therapeutics. Cirmtuzumab, developed by Oncternal, is an investigational antibody that blocks ROR1, or receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1.…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Zejula (niraparib) as a first-line maintenance therapy for women with advanced ovarian cancer who responded to platinum-based chemotherapy, regardless of their BRCA mutation status. This indication also includes patients with advanced fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. The decision comes two months after FDA’s acceptance of a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA), which…
Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) has been approved in Japan to treat adults with HER2-positive inoperable or metastatic breast cancer that is resistant to chemotherapy, or those who cannot tolerate it. Enhertu is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) made up of the anti-HER2 antibody trastuzumab bound to the cancer-killing compound deruxtecan (a derivative of exatecan). HER2 is a protein found…
Women living in rural areas in the U.S. are significantly more likely to have metastatic disease at the time of their ovarian cancer diagnosis than those living in metropolitan areas, a study of patients in three Midwest states found. This finding is likely not a consequence of travel time to reach a primary care provider.…
Combining Cabometyx (cabozantinib) with Opdivo (nivolumab) significantly extends survival, delays disease progression and increases the rate of positive responses compared to standard treatment with Sutent (sunitinib) among people with newly diagnosed advanced renal cell cancer, a pivotal Phase 3 trial shows. The recent findings mean that the CheckMate -9ER trial (NCT03141177) met its primary goal of extending…
I’ve entered my sixth week of quarantine, and you’ll be happy to know that I haven’t gone completely insane (yet). Then again, I wouldn’t know, as I don’t have anyone to bounce my feelings off, except myself. Which I do a lot. On second thought, maybe I am insane. We are, as you might have…
Researchers at the Tish Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, have discovered how tumors can survive the effects of radiotherapy. While studying skin tumors, the team discovered that during radiotherapy, skin immune cells — called Langerhans cells — are activated to repair the DNA damage caused by the radiation. When Langerhans cells were exposed to…
The analysis of an international clinical trial including patients suffering from locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) showed that those treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) had a significant decrease in lung toxicity and improved chemotherapy tolerance when compared to patients treated with 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3-D CRT). The results were presented by Stephen Chun, M.D., fellow, Radiation Oncology at…
Myovant Sciences has filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval of relugolix to treat men with advanced prostate cancer. The new drug application (NDA) proposes a single daily dose of 120 mg, given as an oral tablet, based on positive results from the Phase 3 HERO trial (NCT03085095, still recruiting in China). “The…
A variant in a gene that promotes the production of testosterone by prostate cancer cells is linked to poorer survival and the development of castration-resistant disease in Caucasians with metastatic prostate cancer, a study suggests. Its researchers recommend that genetic testing be part of routine care for patients, as those with this variant may need…
