Clinical Trial Results - Cancer Currents Blog
Reports on findings from cancer clinical trials, with commentary from leading researchers on how the trial results will affect patient care.
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FDA has approved zanubrutinib (Brukinsa) for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) based on results from two clinical trials. In both trials, the drug, which blocks a protein called BTK, was more effective and caused fewer side effects than other treatments.
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The immunotherapy drug blinatumomab (Blincyto) extends life for people with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who are in remission, even those with no signs of disease after initial treatment, a trial has found.
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For younger women with advanced breast cancer, the combination of ribociclib (Kisqali) and hormone therapy was much better at shrinking metastatic tumors than standard chemotherapy treatments, results from an NCI-funded clinical trial show.
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In a large clinical trial, a condensed course of radiation therapy was as effective and safe as a longer standard course for those with higher-risk early-stage breast cancer who had a lumpectomy. This shorter radiation course makes treatment less of a burden for patients.
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A study in India has found that an ultra-low dose of the immunotherapy drug nivolumab (Opdivo) helped people with advanced head and neck cancer live longer. Because the dose is 6% of what’s typically used in the United States and Europe, it is potentially more affordable.
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Results from a large NCI-funded clinical trial show that steroids were no more effective than a placebo for treating breathing problems in people with advanced cancer. And people treated with steroids were more likely to have serious side effects.
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For melanoma that can be treated with surgery, a few doses of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) beforehand looks to be a good choice. In a clinical trial, people who got the presurgical immunotherapy were much less likely to have their cancer come back than those who only received it after surgery.
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In a small clinical trial, nearly 40% of people with multiple myeloma who were treated with the immunotherapy drug teclistamab (Tecvayli) had all signs of their cancer disappear. The trial participants had myeloma that did not respond to or came back after three or more prior treatments.
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Researchers have confirmed that the immunotherapy drug dinutuximab (Unituxin) can help children with high-risk neuroblastoma live longer. The finding is based on a trial of nearly 1,200 children with the disease.
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Adding the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to chemotherapy can help some patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer live longer. In the KEYNOTE-355 trial, overall survival improved among patients whose tumors had high levels of the PD-L1 protein.