Articles
The combination of cabozantinib (Cabometyx), a second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), plus nivolumab (Opdivo), an immune checkpoint inhibitor, significantly improved overall survival (OS) and doubled the objective response rates (ORR) compared with the current standard, sunitinib (Sutent), in treatment-naïve patients with advanced renal-cell carcinoma (RCC), according to the results of the phase 3 CheckMate-9ER clinical trial.
Adding the oral cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)4/CDK6 inhibitor abemaciclib (Verzenio) to endocrine therapy led to a significant reduction in the risk for invasive disease recurrence versus endocrine therapy alone in patients with high-risk hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer, according to findings from the phase 3 monarchE clinical trial. The results were presented at the 2020 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) virtual meeting and were featured at the meeting press conference.
This section provides a brief overview of new cancer drugs approved by the FDA between July 31, 2020, and September 4, 2020.
By William King
The COVID-19 pandemic has not only resulted in adjustments to the current Oncology Care Model (OCM), but it has led to considerations for future models, said Lara M. Strawbridge, MPH, Director, Ambulatory Payment Models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), Washington, DC, during the 2020 virtual National Comprehensive Cancer Network Oncology Policy Summit.
Leading global drug manufacturers have been called on to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in myriad ways, and several of their top executives discussed those responses in an August 11 webcast sponsored by the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care.
Until the late 1930s, stomach cancer—also called gastric cancer—was the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Although stomach cancer is still a major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, it is now much less common in this country. The following provides a brief look at some of the key statistics regarding this disease.
By William King
Value-based or alternative payment models have yet to deliver the cost-savings in oncology hoped for when these models were proposed, said experts at the 2020 virtual National Comprehensive Cancer Network Oncology Policy Summit during a panel discussion on best practices for value-based agreements.
By Phoebe Starr
Adding abemaciclib to endocrine therapy led to a significant reduction in invasive disease recurrence versus endocrine therapy alone in HR-positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer, according to the results of a new study. “This is a very important trial, and the findings will change practice,” said Giuseppe Curigliano, MD, PhD.
Paula Anastasia, RN, MN, AOCN, and Ali McBride, PharmD, MS, describe the impact that first-line maintenance therapy has on quality of life in patients with ovarian cancer despite adverse events associated with the treatment, and that frequent communication with the healthcare team during maintenance therapy is critical.
ASCO guidelines cite significant improvement in progression-free survival when PARP inhibitors are used as maintenance therapy or in the setting of recurrent disease in women with advanced ovarian cancer who have responded to platinum-based chemotherapy in the first line.