Elotuzumab/Lenalidomide Maintenance Deepens Responses After Transplant in Myeloma
December 13th 2017Maintenance therapy with elotuzumab (Empliciti) and lenalidomide (Revlimid) after autologous stem cell transplant improves the quality of response achieved with induction therapy in patients with multiple myeloma.
Combination Therapy Proposed for Multiple Myeloma and Mantle Cell Lymphoma
December 12th 2017A proof-of-concept study has demonstrated that resistance to treatment in multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma could be linked to a protein called Nrf1, which appears to respond to proteasome insufficiency or pharmacological inhibition.
Lenalidomide Maintenance Therapy Outperforms Observation in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma
December 11th 2017Continuous lenalidomide therapy improves outcomes among patients with newly diagnosed myeloma who are not autologous stem cell transplant candidates, according to findings from a large phase III clinical trial.
Anti-BCMA CAR T-Cell Therapy Active in Heavily Pretreated Myeloma
December 11th 2017A single treatment with a second-generation CAR T-cell treatment elicited an overall response rate of 94% in a small study of patients with heavily pretreated multiple myeloma, according to the results of a phase I study presented at the ASH Annual Meeting.
Six-Month Analysis of CTL019 Demonstrates Sustained Responses in Refractory DLBCL Patients
December 11th 2017A potentially practice-changing study presented at 2017 ASH shows high rates of sustained complete response in patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who were treated with CTL019 CAR T-cell therapy.
Gene-Based Biomarker Identifies Patients With Breast Cancer More Likely to Respond to Enzalutamide
December 9th 2017Enzalutamide (Xtandi) added to exemestane improved progression-free survival in patients with hormone receptor-positive advanced breast cancer and no prior endocrine therapy who were positive for a gene signature-based biomarker indicating androgen receptor-signaling.
A New Target for CAR T Cells Achieves Remission in Resistant Pediatric B-ALL
November 22nd 2017An early-stage trial in pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) has found that modifying the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to target the CD22 receptor achieved remission.
What We're Reading: Gene Therapy Guidelines; Opioid Overdose Costs; Unaware of Open Enrollment
November 17th 2017The FDA issued new guidelines to speed up the review process for gene therapies; a new report calculates the potential societal benefits of eliminating the opioid epidemic; and one-third of Americans are unaware that the ACA's open enrollment season has begun.
FDA Grants BCMA CAR T-Cell Therapy Breakthrough Designation in Myeloma
November 17th 2017The FDA has granted the the anti–B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy bb2121 a breakthrough therapy designation for previously treated patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.
Brentuximab Vedotin Nears European Approval for CTCL
November 15th 2017The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended approval of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in adults with CD30-positive cutaneous T-cell lymphoma after at least 1 prior systemic therapy.