Articles
By Wayne Kuznar
Chicago, IL—Osimertinib (Tagrisso) extends progression-free survival (PFS) compared with standard chemotherapy in patients with EGFR T790M mutation–positive non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have central nervous system (CNS) metastases, reported Marina C. Garassino, MD, Thoracic Oncology Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy, at the 2017 ASCO annual meeting.
By Phoebe Starr
Chicago, IL—Larotrectinib (LOXO-101), an investigational agent that targets tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) fusions, has demonstrated excellent, consistent, and durable antitumor activity in a range of tumor types in adults and children, reported lead investigator David M. Hyman, MD, Chief, Early Drug Development Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, at the 2017 ASCO annual meeting.
Dacomitinib is an irreversible EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor that inhibits 3 members of the ErbB protein family—EGFR/HER1, HER2, and HER4—implying that dacomitinib induces a more potent inhibition of EGFR.
To our knowledge, cases of successful treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) with low-dose nilotinib (Tasigna) have not been reported. The following case represents our experience with a patient with CML who achieved good response to nilotinib therapy.
The fluoropyrimidine 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and its prodrug capecitabine are cytotoxic agents that have been widely used in the treatment of solid tumors. In the United States alone, an estimated 275,000 patients with cancer receive 5-FU each year. Despite its lifesaving/life-prolonging potential, 5-FU causes severe early-onset toxicity in up to one-fourth of patients, and more than 1300 die each year as a result of this toxicity.
Although administration and toxicity may differ between the 2 agents, they share the same risks for early-onset toxicity and overdosage, the signs of which are easily dismissed by patients and providers as expected chemotherapy-related adverse events.
Many healthcare providers who work in gastrointestinal oncology may feel blasé about the administration of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which is certainly the most commonly used chemotherapy in this setting.
Although the 5-year survival rate for multiple myeloma is less than 50%, this type of cancer has witnessed a resurgence of drug therapies.
Each year, >200,000 individuals in the United States are diagnosed with a primary or metastatic brain tumor. Primary brain tumors comprise approximately 40,000 of these diagnoses.