Articles

The combination of immunotherapy with nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) may soon represent a new first-line treatment option in patients with early-stage metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) associated with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) tumors.

Treatment options are few for patients with cholangiocarcinoma whose disease progresses while receiving first-line treatment with gemci­tabine (Gemzar) and cisplatin (Platinol), with no established second-line regimen.

Long-term therapy with olaparib (Lynparza), a poly (ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, in women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer and a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation led to a significant, unprecedented improvement in progression-free survival (PFS), reducing the risk for disease progression or death by 70% compared with placebo, according to results of the phase 3 SOLO-1 clinical trial.

Although many new treatments, including targeted therapies and immunotherapies, have recently become available for patients with non–small-cell lung cancer, those with small-cell lung cancer have not seen new treatment options in the past 2 decades. But this is about to change.

Now in its fourth week, the longest shutdown in the history of the federal government is having an impact on patient care, as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has put drug reviews and approvals for new drugs and devices, as well as the issuance of new guidance documents, on indefinite hold.

Chicago, IL—People often use the terms “value” and “quality” interchangeably, but they are not the same. In the healthcare landscape, value pertains to health outcomes that matter to patients, taking into account the cost of delivering those outcomes, whereas the Institute of Medicine defines quality as “the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge.”

Chicago, IL—Moving nelarabine (Arranon), a T-cell–specific drug, up front combined with backbone chemotherapy (ie, COG-augmented Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster [aBFM]) improved ­survival by approximately 10% in the largest-­ever randomized clinical trial enrolling newly diagnosed children and young adults with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LL).

A claims analysis of elderly patients with pancreatic cancer has shown that those receiving early palliative care consultations had lower healthcare utilization than patients who received late palliative care. Data presented at ASCO 2018 showed that patients who received palliative care within 4 weeks of diagnosis had fewer visits to the emergency department (2.4 vs 3.0, respectively; P <.001) and lower emergency department–related costs ($3043 vs $4117, respectively; P <.001). According to the study investigators, these findings provide real-world evidence to support oncology societies’ recommendations for the early integration of palliative care.

According to Julie Kinnerly-Shah, PharmD, MS, MHA, BCPS, one of the most important things to consider when implementing CAR T-cell therapy is the various roles and responsibilities that are required.

“Tumor reductions and durable responses were observed in most patients, especially those whose cancers progressed with chemotherapy and multikinase inhibitors,” said Vivek Subbiah, MD, at the 2018 AACR meeting.