TOP - January 2020, Vol 13, No 1

The January issue of The Oncology Pharmacist (TOP) features the latest medical news, expert perspectives, clinical trial results, and drug updates, as well as key highlights from national and international meetings, including the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2019, the 2019 Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 2019 Hematologic Malignancies meeting. Read More ›

Barcelona, Spain—Alterations in the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR2)2 gene have been identified as driver mutations in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). Durable objective responses were observed in >33% of patients with locally advanced or metastatic CCA and FGFR2 rearrangements or fusions who received treatment with pemigatinib, a selective oral inhibitor of FGFR1, FGFR2, and FGFR3. Data from the single-arm, open-label phase 2 clinical trial FIGHT-202, which was presented at the ESMO Congress 2019, revealed that investigational pemigatinib induced a response in 35.5% of the 107 patients with FGFR2 fusions or rearrangements (cohort A), with a median duration of response of 7.5 months. Read More ›

San Francisco, CA—Keeping up with the many treatment advances in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma can be a challenge for even the most informed providers, according to Jorge J. Castillo, MD, Clinical Director, Bing Center for Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA. Read More ›

Barcelona, Spain—Osimertinib (Tagrisso), a third-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), extended overall survival (OS) compared with older TKI EGFR inhibitors, including gefitinib (Iressa) or erlotinib (Tarceva), as first-line treatment for patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and EGFR mutation in the phase 3 clinical trial called FLAURA. Read More ›

San Francisco, CA—Cannabis has been credited as a medicinal plant with benefits ranging from pain and inflammation relief to epileptic seizure reduction to insomnia and anxiety cures, but the evidence is still limited, particularly in the setting of advanced cancer. Read More ›

Barcelona, Spain—Ivosidenib (Tibsovo), an oral therapy that targets isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutation, significantly improved pro­gression-free survival (PFS) in patients with advanced cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) and an IDH1 mutation, in a phase 3 clinical trial reported lead investigator Ghassan K. Abou-­Alfa, MD, Medical Oncologist, Gastrointestinal Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, at the ESMO Congress 2019. Read More ›

Barcelona, Spain—The immunotherapy combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) improved overall survival (OS) compared with chemotherapy as first-line treatment in patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and PD-L1 expression ≥1%, according to results of CheckMate 227. The OS was also improved with nivolumab plus ipilimu­mab compared with chemotherapy in the total study population and in patients whose tumors had low (<1%) PD-L1 expression. Read More ›

Barcelona, Spain—The poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) delayed disease progression and showed a trend toward improved survival compared with newer hormonal agents in men with pretreated metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and homologous recombinant repair (HRR) gene mutations or with BRCA1, BRCA2, and ATM mutations. Results of this late-breaker were reported at the ESMO Congress 2019 during the presidential session. Read More ›

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San Francisco, CA—We are in a “golden age” in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, Medical Oncologist, Division of Hematologic Malignancies, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City. Read More ›