TOP - November 2020 Vol 13, No 6

The November issue of The Oncology Pharmacist (TOP) features important news and insights for today’s oncology pharmacist, including highlights from recent virtual oncology conferences, which cover a range of topics, from efforts underway to improve access to treatment for individuals with cancer during the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency, to safety and efficacy data on novel agents and combination regimens being used to improve outcomes in patients with hematologic malignancies or solid tumors. Read More ›

Many cancer vaccines have been studied, but thus far the search has been unsuccessful. Results from a new study suggest that the combination of a messenger (mRNA)-­based personalized cancer vaccine (known as RO7198457) plus the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab (Tecentriq) shows promise for the treatment of advanced cancer. Read More ›

Value-based drug purchasing, better coordination of care delivery, and earlier institution of palliative care were among the measures to lower the cost of cancer care that were suggested during a panel discussion at the 2020 virtual National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Oncology Policy Summit. Read More ›

As part of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care’s COVID-19 Impact on Cancer Care and Road to Recovery webcast series, Lillie Shockney, RN, BSN, MAS, HON-ONN-CG, led a panel of experts who reviewed some of the valuable lessons learned, and discussed ongoing challenges that nurses will continue to face as they strive to provide safe and effective care to patients with cancer. Read More ›

PARP inhibition is moving on from breast and ovarian cancer to the treatment of patients with prostate cancer and BRCA1/2 mutation. Olaparib (Lynparza) reduced the risk for death by 31% versus enzalutamide (Xtandi) or abiraterone (Zytiga) in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and BRCA1 or BRCA2, and to a lesser extent ATM mutations, according to the final analysis of the phase 3 PROfound trial. Read More ›

Early locoregional therapy with surgery and radiation does not improve overall survival (OS) in women with newly diagnosed stage IV breast cancer and an intact primary tumor compared with systemic therapy alone, according to the results of the randomized ECOG-ACRIN E2108 phase 3 clinical trial. Read More ›

Oral relugolix given daily is superior to standard androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) with leuprolide in men with advanced prostate cancer, according to the results of the phase 3 HERO study. In June, the FDA granted a priority review for relugolix, an oral gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist, for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Read More ›

Asingle infusion of the investigational agent lifileucel—an immunotherapy using cryopreserved autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs)—induced responses in more than 33% of patients with advanced melanoma whose disease progressed with multiple previous therapies, including PD-1 and BRAF/MEK inhibitors. Read More ›

Cancer health disparities remain a challenge in the United States, despite some strides being made to reduce these disparities, according to a new report from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) that was released in a virtual presentation on September 16, 2020. Read More ›

One question on oncologists’ minds recently is whether treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with cancer has a negative effect on COVID-19 disease. So far, the data have not shown a deleterious effect, but the definitive answer is unknown. Read More ›