Articles
Acalabrutinib received FDA approval on October 31, 2017, for patients with mantle-cell lymphoma but not for patients with CLL. It is only the second BTK inhibitor to receive approval by the FDA.
Findings from an interim analysis of the phase 3 MURANO study show venetoclax plus rituximab achieved superior progression-free survival and overall survival compared with standard-of-care bendamustine plus rituximab in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Lead investigator Joseph M. Connors, MD, FRCPC, Clinical Director, Centre for Lymphoid Cancer, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, Canada, reported the results of the phase 3 ECHELON-1 clinical trial, which were also published online (Connors JM, et al. N Engl J Med. 2018;378:331-344) to coincide with the ASH meeting.
Among patients with untreated follicular lymphoma, 75% achieved complete responses with the 3-drug combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq), obinutuzumab (Gazyva), and bendamustine (Treanda), results of a small, preliminary clinical trial reported at ASH 2017 showed.
Of the 24 patients receiving sotatercept monotherapy, 20 had primary myelofibrosis. Their median baseline hemoglobin level was 7.5 g/dL.
When breast cancer recurs or is diagnosed at an advanced stage, treatment is complicated by the diverse nature of the disease, with several molecular subgroups with distinct tumor biology responding differently to different therapies.
For patients with advanced breast cancer, prognosis remains especially suboptimal, primarily because of acquired pharmacologic resistance. Fortunately, several new drugs and drug combinations have recently become available.
Breast cancer is not simply one disease, and the use of more effective therapies that target different tumor markers, such as the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)4/6 pathway in estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer, may actually reduce the total cost of care for patients/members and payers.
An open conversation with a patient at this transition point of an MBC diagnosis should stress that, although the disease may be incurable, care can focus on control and hope as long as possible, with a balance for quality of life.