Oncology

Breakthrough gene therapy for B-cell lymphoma now available at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Ian W. Flinn, MD, PhD, discusses the impact of CAR T-cell therapy on the field of lymphoma and highlighted emerging options for the treatment of patients with MCL.

CAR T-cell therapies tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah, Novartis) and axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta, Kite Pharma/Gilead) may come with hefty price tags, but the cost-effectiveness of both therapies fell below or within commonly cited thresholds of $50,000 to $150,000 per quality-adjusted life years, according to a report by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review.

This week, the top managed care news included President Donald Trump vowing to lower drug prices during his State of the Union address; 3 corporate giants joined forces on healthcare; and CAR T-cell therapy was named the cancer advance of the year.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has been named the Advance of the Year in ASCO’s Clinical Cancer Advances 2018. According to the annual report, CAR T-cell therapy is “poised to transform the outlook for children and adults with certain otherwise incurable cancers."

Jesus Berdeja, MD, director of Multiple Myeloma Research, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses next steps with the CAR T-cell therapy bb2121 in multiple myeloma.

Nina Shah, MD, discusses immunotherapy and cellular treatments moving fast through the multiple myeloma pipeline, and the hope for CAR T-cell therapy to move up to earlier lines of treatment.

Celgene has announced plans to acquire Juno Therapeutics, maker of the CAR T-cell therapy lisocabtagene maraleucel (JCAR017), for $87 per share, totaling approximately $9 billion.

The combination of the CAR T-cell therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel and the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab was highly active with a manageable safety profile in patients with refractory DLBCL enrolled in the phase I/II ZUMA-6 trial.

This week, the top managed care stories included the elimination of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate; a new gene therapy for inherited vision loss that could cost $1 million; and a study found that social isolation can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.

David Maloney, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, Division of Oncology, University of Washington, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses the preliminary safety data of the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product, JCAR017, in relapsed/refractory aggressive B-cell lymphoma.

Maintenance 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.

The CAR T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) achieved an overall response rate of 53.1% in adult patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Treatment with the BCMA-directed CAR T-cell therapy bb2121 induced complete remissions for 56% of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

The FDA has granted a priority review to a biologics license application for mogamulizumab for the treatment of patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma who have received at least 1 prior systemic therapy.

Dan T. Vogl, MD, highlights the potential with CAR T-cell therapy in the multiple myeloma paradigm.

An 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.

The 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.

Sarah K. Tasian, MD, discusses the success of CAR T-cell therapy, as well as novel agents and immunotherapies that appear promising in the treatment of children with leukemia.

Naval Daver, MD, assistant professor, Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the approval of a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Bijal D. Shah, MD, medical oncologist, Moffitt Cancer Center, comments on the toxicities associated with using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in patients with leukemia.

The FDA has approved brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) as a treatment for patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma who have received prior systemic therapy.

CD19 CAR T cells are highly effective in high-risk patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have failed to respond to treatment with ibrutinib, a Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor, according to a new study.

Maintenance therapy with lenalidomide following autologous stem-cell transplantation conferred a survival benefit for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.