Web Exclusives

Web Exclusives — June 22, 2020
On June 15, 2020, the FDA accelerated the approval of lurbinectedin (Zepzelca; Jazz Pharma/Pharma Mar), an intravenous alkylating drug, for the treatment of adults with metastatic small-cell lung cancer that has progressed during or after platinum-based chemotherapy. The FDA granted lurbinectedin an orphan drug designation for this indication.
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Web Exclusives — June 16, 2020
San Francisco, CA—Although there is a biological rationale that supports the “abscopal” effects of radiation therapy plus checkpoint immunotherapy in fighting cancer, this combination showed mixed results and no robust effects in patients with metastatic renal-cell carcinoma (RCC), according to results of 2 preliminary studies presented at the 2020 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.
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Web Exclusives — June 16, 2020
San Francisco, CA—Reducing pain without increasing the use of opioids is feasible in patients with advanced cancer, according to the results of a retrospective analysis presented at the 2019 ASCO Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium. Among the 300 patients seen by an inpatient palliative care team, 50% of patients achieved clinically improved pain control without an increase in oral morphine-equivalent daily dose.
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Web Exclusives — June 16, 2020
San Francisco, CA—If you know someone who has cancer, reaching out could be the medicine he or she needs. According to data presented at the 2019 ASCO Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium, increased social support may function as an analgesic that helps to mitigate one of the most common symptoms experienced by patients with cancer—pain.
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Web Exclusives — June 8, 2020
On May 29, 2020, the FDA approved ramucirumab (Cyramza; Eli Lilly) in combination with erlotinib (Tarceva) for first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletions or exon 21 (L858R) mutations. Ramucirumab was previously approved for several types of cancer, including, in combination with docetaxel, for metastatic NSCLC, after platinum-based chemotherapy.
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Web Exclusives — June 2, 2020
On May 26, 2020, the FDA approved nivolumab (Opdivo; BMS) and ipilimumab (Yervoy; BMS) plus chemotherapy as first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic squamous or nonsquamous non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), regardless of PD-L1 expression, and with no EGFR or ALK aberrations. On May 15, the FDA approved nivolumab plus ipilimumab as first-line treatment of metastatic NSCLC with PD-L1 ≥1% expression.
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Web Exclusives — June 2, 2020
On May 29, 2020, the FDA approved the immunotherapy atezolizumab (Tecentriq; Genentech), a PD-L1 inhibitor, in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin; Genentech), a vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have not received systemic therapy. This is the first immunotherapy regimen approved by the FDA for this type of HCC.
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Web Exclusives — May 26, 2020
On May 19, 2020, the FDA approved a new indication for olaparib (Lynparza; AstraZeneca), a PARP inhibitor, for the treatment of men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and deleterious or suspected deleterious germline or somatic HRR mutation, as determined by an FDA-approved test, whose disease progressed after enzalutamide (Xtandi) or abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) therapy. Olaparib is the first FDA-approved PARP inhibitor for prostate cancer.
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Web Exclusives — May 26, 2020
On May 18, 2020, the FDA approved a new indication for atezolizumab (Tecentriq; Genentech), a PD-L1 inhibitor, for the first-line treatment of adults with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumor has high PD-L1 expression (PD-L1 stained ≥50% of tumor cells or PD-L1 stained tumor-infiltrating immune cells covering ≥10% of the tumor area), and no EGFR or ALK genomic aberrations, as determined by an FDA-approved test.
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Web Exclusives — May 18, 2020
On May 15, 2020, the FDA approved a new indication for the first immunotherapy combination with the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo; BMS) and the CTLA-4 inhibitor ipilimumab (Yervoy; BMS) as first-line treatment of adults with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and PD-L1 expression of ≥1%, as determined by an FDA-approved test, but without EGFR or ALK genomic alterations.
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