Web Exclusives
Among patients with radioiodine-refractory advanced or metastatic thyroid cancer, tyrosine kinase inhibitors are guideline recommended. New RET-specific kinase inhibitors have recently demonstrated positive outcomes for these patients.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS has added coverage of telehealth services as part of a push by the agency to accelerate the use of telehealth by removing reimbursement barriers.
The international phase 3 INOVATYON clinical trial did not meet its primary end point of an improvement in overall survival with trabectedin added to pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) followed by platinum at progression compared with carboplatin plus PLD in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. Trabectedin plus PLD may still have a role in patients with multiple previous lines of platinum.
In the treatment of patients with platinum-sensitive, recurrent ovarian cancer, a lower starting dose of niraparib in patients with a low body weight (77 kg) or low platelet count (150,000/μL) had similar efficacy as the fixed 300-mg starting dose versus placebo on the end point of progression-free survival, confirming a previous observation.
A review of the National Cancer Database reveals that use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer increased markedly between 2004 and 2016. At the same time, median survival improved by more than 6 months. Study authors found no association between the 2 trends.
Data from a real-world setting show that a platinum-free interval >12 months was associated with the best outcomes after progression on PARP inhibitor maintenance in patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer.
On September 4, 2020, the FDA accelerated the approval of pralsetinib (Gavreto; Blueprint Medicines/Genentech), an oral RET inhibitor, for the treatment of adults with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and RET-activating fusions, as detected by an FDA-approved test.
Adding abemaciclib to endocrine therapy led to a significant reduction in invasive disease recurrence versus endocrine therapy alone in HR-positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer, according to the results of a new study. “This is a very important trial, and the findings will change practice,” said Giuseppe Curigliano, MD, PhD.
ASCO guidelines cite significant improvement in progression-free survival when PARP inhibitors are used as maintenance therapy or in the setting of recurrent disease in women with advanced ovarian cancer who have responded to platinum-based chemotherapy in the first line.
In an analysis of the phase 3 PRIMA study, niraparib monotherapy as first-line maintenance after platinum-based chemotherapy improved progression-free survival in women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer regardless of BRCA mutation status or homologous recombination status (deficient or proficient).
