Genentech, Inc, announced that a phase III study (ATLAS) of erlotinib (Tarceva) in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin) as maintenance therapy following initial treatment with Avastin plus chemotherapy in advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) met its primary endpoint.
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors have emerged as important drugs in cancer therapy, providing a proven survival advantage for some patients with non–small-cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, head and neck cancer, and pancreas cancer.
STOCKHOLM-Final analysis of the phase III Avastin in Lung Study (AVAiL), which evaluated bevacizumab (Avastin) as first-line therapy for advanced nonsmall- cell lung cancer, showed that adding bevacizumab to gemcitabine/cisplatin significantly extends progression-free survival, Christian Manegold, MD, of Heidelberg University in Mannheim, Germany, reported at ESMO 2008 (abstract LBA1).
Cell Therapeutics, Inc, recently announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing and review, and has granted priority review status for, the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for use of 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin) as consolidation therapy for patients with follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma who achieve a response to first-line therapy.
A novel gene therapy approach for the treatment of a type of inherited retinal disease appears to be safe and effective in initial trials. Results offer hope for the treatment of a gamut of eye diseases that once were thought to be untreatable, according to one researcher.
Gene therapy has resulted in functional vision for patients with Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA), said Albert Maguire, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr. That research is the result of a 13-year effort by Dr. Maguire and colleagues.
mall-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a distinct clinicopathologic entity that is characterized by neuroendocrine differentiation, early metastatic spread, and initial responsiveness to cytotoxic therapy.
Fully 88% of older adults with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma have at least a very good partial response when treated with low-dose autologous stem cell transplantation that is preceded by bortezomib-containing induction therapy and followed by lenalidomide-containing consolidation and maintenance therapy, according to trial results from the University of Turin in Italy.
An antibody to the insulin-like growth factor type 1 receptor (IGF-1R), when given with chemotherapy, is active as first-line therapy in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, especially squamous type, finds the first trial to test an IGF inhibitor in lung cancer. Daniel D. Karp, MD, of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, reported the trial results at ASCO 2008 (abstract 8015).
Radiation therapy (RT) and immunotherapy of cancer both date back more than 100 years, and yet, because radiation was often considered immunosuppressive, there had been little enthusiasm for combining them until recently. Immunotherapy has an established role in the treatment of some cancers-superficial bladder cancer treated with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), renal cell carcinoma and melanoma treated with interferon and interluekin (IL)-2 (Proleukin), and breast cancer and lymphoma treated with monoclonal antibodies such as trastuzumab (Herceptin) and rituximab (Rituxan), which partly function through antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity.
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals recently announced the initiation of the INTORACT (INvestigation of TORisel and Avastin Combination Therapy) study, a worldwide randomized, open-label, phase IIIB study comparing temsirolimus (Torisel) plus bevacizumab (Avastin) vs bevacizumab plus interferon-alfa for first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Wyeth Research is conducting the INTORACT study with the support and assistance of Roche and Genentech
Immunomedics, Inc. a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing monoclonal antibodies to treat cancer and other serious diseases, today announced that adding epratuzumab (LymphoCIDE) to rituximab (Rituxan) and combined cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone chemotherapy (ER-CHOP) for the therapy of patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) produced promising results.
COLLEGEVILLE, Pennsylvania-Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has initiated the INTORACT (Investigation of Torisel and Avastin Combination Therapy) trial, a worldwide randomized open-label phase IIIb study comparing temsirolimus (Torisel) plus bevacizumab (Avastin) vs bevacizumab plus interferon-alfa for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.
Genomic Health, Inc, recently announced that its Oncotype DX report is now providing quantitative estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) scores to physicians and patients in addition to the trademarked Recurrence Score. This expansion of the assay is based on the results of a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, which confirmed that reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) by Oncotype DX can deliver quantitative gene expression levels for assessing ER and PR status, which are critical factors in determining the use and benefit of hormonal therapy for the treatment of breast cancer.
BOSTON-A gene therapy agent that delivers a normal p53 gene to the tumor significantly increased survival by 4.5 months in end-stage head and neck cancer patients with p53-favorable tumor profiles, compared to those with unfavorable profiles.
A large phase III study has found that the targeted therapy cetuximab (Erbitux), combined with platinum-based chemotherapy, is effective as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This is the first time a targeted drug has shown a survival benefit as a first-line treatment for patients with NSCLC, including all subtypes of the disease, reported lead author Robert Pirker, md, associate professor of medicine at Medical University of Vienna in Austria at the ASCO meeting (abstract 3).
One of the first clinical trial's of a revolutionary gene therapy for Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA), a type of inherited blindness, showed that the treatment can improve vision and cause no side effects.
The appropriate treatment of patients with stage IIIA (N2) non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unclear. With this case report and review, we address the history, assessment, and management of a 67-year-old patient with this diagnosis, and then discuss the challenges in managing N2 disease, as well as the roles of systemic therapy, surgery, and postoperative radiation therapy.
In results that challenge conventional models for color vision circuitry, researchers used gene therapy in a dichromatic primate model to add a third photopigment and bring about red-green vision. This successful treatment of adult monkeys with a congenital color vision defect shows that the adult nervous system can respond to newly added sensory input and is encouraging for the possibility of using gene therapy to treat various cone-based vision disorders in human adults, said Katherine Mancuso, MD, of the Department of Ophthalmology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Drs. Rini and Bukowski do an excellent job of updating and commenting on the rapidly evolving field of therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
Recent advances in the understanding of the biology of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) have been translated into clinical treatment options in metastatic disease.
Cisplatin is effective in treating several types of childhood cancers (eg, CNS tumors, osteosarcoma, hepatoblastoma, neuroblastoma, germ cell tumors). It is the most ototoxic drug used clinically, and hearing loss is a well-recognized toxicity of cisplatin therapy.
Drs. Kelsey, Marks, and Wilson open their excellent review article by asking “Where do we stand?” with respect to postoperative radiation therapy (PORT) for non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).[1] Frankly, PORT has not exactly been standing tall for the past decade-leaning, crouching, or perhaps squatting might be a better verb.
;In patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, the addition of bortezomib (Velcade) to thalidomide (Thalomid) and dexamethasone significantly increased response rates, compared with thalidomide plus dexamethasone alone, when used as induction therapy prior to autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT
Positron emission tomography (PET) can be used to better characterize patterns of local failure after definitive radiation therapy for non-small-cell lung cancer, which may help to improve that therapy
Patients with early-stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) have improved long-term disease-free and overall survival if their first-line treatment includes radiation therapy, according to the largest outcomes study to date among this population.
A 68-year-old man with a history of small-cell lung cancer with bony metastases was admitted with diarrhea. The patient had completed chemotherapy one week earlier with cisplatin and etoposide, along with radiation therapy, and irinotecan (Camptosar). The patient was found to be neutropenic.
When used as adjuvant therapy for node-positive breast cancer, the combination of high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) and stem cell transplantation modestly improves relapse-free survival relative to standard-dose chemotherapy (SDC). But it offers at best minimal benefit in terms of overall survival, according to a meta-analysis presented at SABCS.
Occult distant micrometastasis at the time of radical cystectomy leads predominantly to distant failures in patients with locally advanced muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. Cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy enhances survival in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer. Studies evaluating adjuvant chemotherapy have been limited by inadequate statistical power. However, randomized clinical trials have demonstrated a survival benefit for neoadjvuant cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy, which should be considered a standard of care. In addition, neoadjuvant therapy may assist in the rapid development of novel systemic therapy regimens, since pathologic complete remission appears to be a powerful prognostic factor for long-term outcomes. Patients who are either unfit for or refuse radical cystectomy may benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy with or without radiation to enable bladder preservation.
Occult distant micrometastasis at the time of radical cystectomy leads predominantly to distant failures in patients with locally advanced muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. Cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy enhances survival in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer. Studies evaluating adjuvant chemotherapy have been limited by inadequate statistical power. However, randomized clinical trials have demonstrated a survival benefit for neoadjvuant cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy, which should be considered a standard of care. In addition, neoadjuvant therapy may assist in the rapid development of novel systemic therapy regimens, since pathologic complete remission appears to be a powerful prognostic factor for long-term outcomes. Patients who are either unfit for or refuse radical cystectomy may benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy with or without radiation to enable bladder preservation.
