Oncology

This approval comes days after Merck announced it would withdraw indication for third-line gastric cancer.

Merck will withdraw Keytruda's advanced gastric indication after an FDA panel vote, a drug with supply problems gets a new indication, NDAs for an HIV therapy, and other news.

The therapy, a recombinant version, was developed to address supply and manufacturing issues.

Results suggest potential for better use of precision medicine approaches.

But there is no benefit for patients receiving chemotherapy.

Kite plans to submit a supplemental BLA based on these findings.

The anticancer therapy is now available in 21-count bottles to help accommodate dispensing.

A new indication, a nonprescription switch, a recall, and new guidances round out this week’s FDA news.

The therapy is a modified poliovirus vaccine that not only kills cancer cells but also can trigger long-term immune memory.

Chances of left ventricular ejection fraction almost disappeared when patient took the ACE-inhibitor lisinopril during treatment with trastuzumab/anthracycline, according to research presented at ASCO.

Immune-related AEs can occur one to two years after treatment, are more common in combination treatments, and can be difficult to manage.

A large proportion of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer responded to transurethral resection of bladder tumor and a drug cocktail that included gemcitabine, cisplatin and Opdivo (nivolumab).

Phase 1b results show manageable toxicities with Venclexta and Rydapt.

The Association of Community Cancer Centers launched the ACCC Community Oncology Research Institute, which builds on the organization's mission to close the gap in cancer research through optimal community oncology partnerships.

About 2% to 3% of patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer have EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations targeted by newly approved Rybrevant.

A small fraction of those who were eligible under previous U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations were screened with low-dose CT scans. New recommendations will make an additional 6.4 million Americans eligible, but a number of barriers to screening remain.

Opdivo is the first FDA-approved immunotherapy for the first-line treatment of gastric cancer.

The FDA approved proton beam radiation in 1988. But whether it is an improvement over conventional photon radiation as a treatment for many cancers remains an open question.

Automated texts may also lessen the workload on nurses.

Brooks, senior medical director of Independence Blue Cross in Philadelphia, was a key member of the team that created a health awareness campaign launched earlier this month in cooperation with local radio station WURD and other partners including the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, the Independence Blue Cross Foundation, Penn Medicine, Labcorp, and the Health Care Improvement Foundation. The campaign, called “Go To Know,” sets out to increase colon cancer screenings among African Americans by providing free Fecal immunochemical, or FIT, tests.

COTA’s real-world data and Kite's drug development pipeline will complement single-arm clinical trials to accelerate cancer research benefiting patients.

Screening and some care have been canceled or deferred. Will more illness and deaths result?

The decision by Roche comes shortly after AstraZeneca withdrew the bladder cancer indication for durvalumab (Imfinzi).

NCI Director Norman Sharpless discussed deferred care, missed screening and his future at the institute in an interview with Managed Healthcare Executive.