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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FDA Amends Approval of Pembrolizumab to Treat Stomach and Esophageal Junction CancerFDA has changed its 2021 approval of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) along with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and chemotherapy for treating HER2-positive stomach or GEJ cancer. The agency also announced a new approval of pembrolizumab for HER2-negative forms of these same cancers.
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Selpercatinib Slows Progression of RET-Positive Lung, Medullary Thyroid CancersFor people with lung cancer and medullary thyroid cancer whose tumors have changes in the RET gene, selpercatinib improved progression-free survival compared with other common treatments, according to new clinical trial results.
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SBRT Emerging as an Important Treatment for Early-Stage Kidney CancerStereotactic body radiotherapy was effective in people with localized kidney cancer who weren’t able to have surgery to remove their tumor, a clinical trial has shown. No patients had their cancer start growing or died from cancer over the next 5 years.
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Trial Results Confirm Effectiveness of Atezolizumab Against a Rare SarcomaTreatment with atezolizumab (Tecentriq) shrank tumors in about 40% of people with alveolar soft part sarcoma, including one complete response, new clinical trial findings show. Some people were later able to stop treatment without the cancer returning.
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Researchers Develop a Potential “Universal” CAR T-Cell Therapy for Blood CancersResearchers have used a form of CRISPR, called base editing, to engineer T cells and hematopoietic stem cells as part of a potential “universal” CAR T-cell therapy for blood cancers. In experiments in mice, the treatment rapidly eliminated tumors, including in mice with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
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Cholesterol Drug May Help Protect the Heart during Chemotherapy for LymphomaThe cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin (Lipitor) may help reduce the risk of heart failure in people with lymphoma who receive chemotherapy drugs called anthracyclines, results from a clinical trial suggest. Anthracyclines, such as doxorubicin, are used to treat many types of cancer.
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Quizartinib Approval Adds New Treatment Option for AML, Including in Older PatientsTreatment options for people with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have expanded yet again. On July 20, FDA approved quizartinib (Vanflyta) combined with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for AML with a specific change in the FLT3 gene.
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Targeted Drug Combo May Change Care for Rare Brain Tumor CraniopharyngiomaTreating craniopharyngioma often requires surgery, radiation therapy, or both. But results of a study suggest that, for many, combining the targeted therapies vemurafenib (Zelboraf) and cobimetinib (Cotellic) may substantially delay, or even eliminate, the need for these treatments.
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FDA Approves New Initial Treatment Option for Some Metastatic Prostate CancersFDA approved enzalutamide (Xtandi) combined with talazoparib (Talzenna) for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with alterations in any of 12 DNA repair genes. The drug combination, which blocks both DNA repair activities and hormones that fuel cancer growth, was more effective than the standard treatment in a large clinical trial.
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Few People with Cancer Undergo Testing for Inherited Gene MutationsDespite recommendations, a new analysis shows few people with cancer undergo germline testing to learn if their cancer may have been caused by gene changes inherited from a parent. Germline testing can help doctors determine the best treatments for a patient and help identify people whose family members may be at higher risk of cancer.
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Some People with Rectal Cancer Can Skip Radiation before SurgeryRadiation may not be needed for people undergoing surgery for rectal cancer, a large clinical trial has shown. A combination of two chemotherapy drugs before surgery appears to be as effective as chemo and radiation and may spare patients from long-term side effects.
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Three-Drug Regimen Improves Protection against GVHD after Stem Cell TransplantA large clinical trial has shown that in people with blood cancers, a cyclophosphamide-based regimen better protects against graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) after an allogeneic stem cell transplant than the standard regimen.
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Trial Confirms CAR T-Cell Therapy Benefits People with Aggressive LymphomasNew findings show that the CAR T-cell therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta) improved survival for people with large B-cell lymphoma that was not responding to initial treatment or had quickly relapsed. The new results from the ZUMA-7 trial offer real hope for this group of patients.
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Lung Cancer Trial of Osimertinib Draws Praise—and Some CriticismIn the ADAURA clinical trial, people with early-stage lung cancer treated with osimertinib (Tagrisso) after surgery lived longer than people treated with a placebo after surgery. Despite some criticisms about its design, the trial is expected to change patient care.
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Vorasidenib Treatment Shows Promise for Some Low-Grade GliomasIn a large clinical trial, vorasidenib slowed the growth of low-grade gliomas that had mutations in the IDH1 or IDH2 genes. Vorasidenib is the first targeted drug developed specifically to treat brain tumors.
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Blinatumomab Increases Survival for Infants with an Aggressive Type of ALLGiving the drug blinatumomab (Blincyto) after standard chemotherapy substantially increased survival for infants with an aggressive form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a recent study showed. If confirmed in larger studies, the treatment may become standard therapy for infants with ALL caused by KMT2A rearrangements.
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Drug Regimen Boosts Survival of People with Advanced Colorectal CancerA new treatment regimen may help improve the survival of some people with advanced colorectal cancer, according to results from an international clinical trial. The new regimen includes bevacizumab (Avastin) and the combination of trifluridine and tipiracil (Lonsurf).
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Motixafortide May Improve Stem Cell Transplants for People with Multiple MyelomaIn a clinical trial of people with multiple myeloma, giving motixafortide with filgrastim markedly increased the number of stem cells that could be collected. The treatment may allow more people with this cancer to get optimal numbers of stem cells for a transplant.
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Rare Melanoma Very Likely to Respond to Treatment with PembrolizumabPeople with desmoplastic melanoma, a rare form of skin cancer, are likely to benefit from treatment with a single immunotherapy drug, pembrolizumab (Keytruda), according to new results from a small clinical trial.
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Nirogacestat May Offer Hope to People with Desmoid TumorsIn a clinical trial, the drug nirogacestat shrank tumors in 40% of people with desmoid tumors. Treatment with nirogacestat also substantially improved progression-free survival, pain, and physical functioning, compared with patients treated with a placebo.