April 2017, Vol 8, No 2

National Harbor, MD—The investigational CD137 agonist urelumab, given as monotherapy and in combination with the anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibody nivolumab, demonstrated safety and, in some patients with hematologic and solid tumor malignancies, promising antitumor activity, according to results of 2 early-phase studies presented at the 2016 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer annual meeting.

Orlando, FL—A conditioning regimen before autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplant (HSCT) consisting of carfilzomib (Kyprolis) plus high-dose melphalan can help sustain post­transplant remission in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who respond to transplant.

San Francisco, CA—Adding vemurafenib (Zelboraf) to cetuximab (Erbitux) and irinotecan (Camptosar) prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) and improved the disease control rate in patients with BRAF V600E mutation–positive colorectal cancer (CRC).

San Francisco, CA—The addition of cisplatin to standard therapy with gemci­tabine and nab-paclitaxel was associated with a median overall survival (OS) that “has not been seen in stage IV pancreatic cancer,” according to Gayle Jameson, MSN, ACNP-BC, Nurse Practitioner Investigator of Clinical Trials, HonorHealth Research Institute, Scottsdale, AZ, who reported the results from a phase 1b single-arm pilot study using the triplet at the 2017 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

San Francisco, CA—Starting at a low dose of sorafenib (Nexavar) and titrating up to the full dose of 800 mg, rather than starting the full dose, does not adversely affect outcomes, while improving tolerability and reducing costs in the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This was the conclusion from a review of 4900 veterans diagnosed with HCC who were prescribed sorafenib at Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals.

Chicago, IL—Escalating drug prices have put value frameworks in the spotlight, and the identification of the key questions and the audience addressed in each value framework is vital to understanding the value landscape, said Kasia Shields, PharmD, MBA, BCOP, BCPS, Director, Medical Communications, Xcenda/AmerisourceBergen, at the 2016 Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association Oncology Pharmacy Practice Management Program.

Former Senator Bill Frist, MD, opened the 2017 Cancer Center Business Summit in Las Vegas, NV, in early February, with a smile and a warning that we are in unfamiliar territory as the new Congress and the new administration move into 2017, territory that may occur only 2 or 3 times in a century. He said that, “For the first time since 1929, the GOP [the Republican Party] controls Congress, the White House, most governorships and state houses, as well as the Supreme Court.”

San Antonio, TX—Extended adjuvant endocrine therapy beyond 5 years with an aromatase inhibitor (AI) failed to improve disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer who were enrolled in the 3 large National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-52, IDEAL, and DATA studies, which were presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

San Antonio, TX—Two HER2-targeted drugs improve progression-free survival (PFS) compared with a single drug when combined with an aromatase inhibitor in patients with advanced breast cancer, as reported at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.