Treatment - Cancer Currents Blog
Cancer treatment related news, with context from leading experts. Includes articles on new therapies, treatment side effects, and important trends in treatment-related research.
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Understanding the Risk of Second Cancers After CAR T-Cell TherapyIn late 2023, FDA announced it was investigating instances of second cancers following treatment with CAR T-cell therapies. In this Q&A, NCI’s Dr. Stephanie Goff explains what’s known about the issue, stressing that second cancers “of any kind are rare.”
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More Immunotherapy Options Approved for Treating Endometrial CancerPeople with advanced endometrial cancer now have new FDA-approved treatment options: pembrolizumab and durvalumab, paired with chemotherapy, for tumors with a genetic change called mismatch repair deficiency. The agency also expanded the approved uses of dostarlimab for the disease.
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Lorlatinib Slows Growth of ALK-Positive Lung Cancers, May Prevent Brain MetastasesLorlatinib (Lorbrena) is superior to crizotinib (Xalkori) as an initial treatment for people with ALK-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer, according to new clinical trial results. Treatment with lorlatinib also helped prevent new brain metastases.
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Trial Establishes Preferred Treatment for Some People with Esophageal CancerFor people with locally advanced esophageal cancer, a chemotherapy regimen called FLOT is the preferred treatment, according to results from a large clinical trial. People treated with FLOT lived much longer than those treated with the CROSS regimen.
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Durvalumab Extends Lives of People with Early-Stage Small Cell Lung CancerThe immunotherapy drug durvalumab (Imfinzi) can help people with early-stage small cell lung cancer live longer, results from a large clinical trial show. Three years after starting treatment, nearly 60% of people who received the drug were still alive.
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Spurred by Survivors, Researchers Are Revisiting Cancer Drug DosesWhen it comes to cancer drugs, researchers are moving away from a paradigm called the maximum tolerated dose. Instead, they’re focusing more on identifying doses that produce fewer side effects but are still effective against a person’s cancer.
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Tovorafenib Approved for Some Children with Low-Grade GliomaFDA has granted an accelerated approval to tovorafenib (Ojemda) for kids and teens who have low-grade glioma with changes in the BRAF gene. In a small clinical trial, the drug shrank or completely eliminated tumors in nearly 70% of patients.
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Pembrolizumab Is First Adjuvant Therapy to Improve Overall Survival in Kidney CancerIn a large clinical trial, treatment with pembrolizumab after surgery helped people with kidney cancer live longer than those who got a placebo and standard monitoring. The findings mark the first time an adjuvant treatment for kidney cancer has improved survival.
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Alectinib Approved as an Adjuvant Treatment for Lung CancerFDA has approved alectinib (Alecensa) as adjuvant therapy for people with lung cancer who have ALK-positive tumors. In a clinical trial, alectinib helped people live longer after surgery without their cancer returning than chemotherapy.
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FDA Approves Trastuzumab Deruxtecan for Any HER2-Positive Solid CancerTrastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu) can now be used to treat any advanced solid cancer that produces high levels of the protein HER2 (HER2-positive tumors). FDA’s accelerated approval was based on findings from three clinical trials.
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Approval of Elahere Expands Treatment Options for Some Advanced Ovarian CancersFDA approved mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx (Elahere) to treat people with advanced, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer whose tumors overproduce a protein called FR-α. The full approval was based on the results of a large, randomized trial called MIRASOL, which showed Elahere improved survival for these people.
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Rusfertide Nearly Eliminates Need for Phlebotomies to Treat Polycythemia VeraAdding rusfertide to treatment for polycythemia vera cut phlebotomy rates from nine to less than one per year in a recent clinical trial. The finding may improve the quality of life for those who manage the blood cancer with frequent blood draws.
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Simple Hysterectomy May Expand Treatment Options for Early-Stage Cervical CancerFor some people with early-stage cervical cancer, a surgical procedure called a simple hysterectomy may be a safe and effective alternative to treatment with a radical hysterectomy, results from the SHAPE trial show.
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Nivolumab Injections Could Make Treatment Easier for More People with CancerIn a clinical trial, an injectable form of nivolumab (Opdivo) was as effective against kidney cancer as the intravenous form of the drug. Side effects were also similar and treatment time was shorter. Injectable immunotherapies, several experts said, if found to be comparable to IV forms, can be more convenient to receive and accessible to more people.
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First Cancer TIL Therapy Gets FDA Approval for Advanced MelanomaIn an event more than three decades in the making, FDA has approved lifileucel (Amtagvi), the first cancer treatment that uses immune cells called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, or TILs.
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ctDNA May Guide Who Needs Chemo After Colorectal Cancer SurgeryResults from a new study suggest that the presence of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in blood samples can predict which patients with colorectal cancer should and shouldn’t get chemotherapy after surgery to remove their tumors.
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Repotrectinib Expands Treatment Options for Lung Cancers with ROS1 FusionsThe results of the clinical trial that led to FDA’s 2023 approval of repotrectinib (Augtyro) for lung cancers with ROS1 fusions have been published. The drug shrank tumors in 80% of people receiving the drug as an initial treatment.
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India’s First Homegrown CAR T-Cell Therapy Has Roots in NCI CollaborationTraining provided by NCI scientists helped researchers in India design an effective CAR-T cell therapy, NexCAR19, that can be manufactured in India, made available at a reasonable cost, and meet the needs of patients in India’s health care system.
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Can Some People with Breast Cancer Safely Skip Lymph Node Radiation?Some people with no evidence of cancer in nearby lymph nodes after presurgical chemotherapy can skip radiation to that area without increasing the risk of the cancer returning, a clinical trial found. But some experts caution that more details are needed.
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Trial Results Support Adding Daratumumab to Initial Treatment for Multiple MyelomaAdding daratumumab (Darzalex) to standard treatment helped people with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma live longer without their cancer getting worse or dying. People taking daratumumab were also more likely to have no detectable signs of cancer (minimal residual disease) after treatment.