Lilly Builds Upon Body of Data for Abemaciclib with Phase 3 MONARCH 2 Data Demonstrating Superior Progression-Free Survival in Advanced Breast Cancer

Lilly | Jun 3, 2017

Excerpt:

“Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced that results from the Phase 3 MONARCH 2 study showed that abemaciclib, a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)4 & 6 inhibitor, in combination with fulvestrant, significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared to treatment with fulvestrant alone in women with hormone-receptor-positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-), advanced breast cancer who have relapsed or progressed after endocrine therapy (median PFS, 16.4 vs. 9.3 months, respectively, HR: 0.553; 95% CI: 0.449, 0.681, P < .0000001). The data were presented at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting (Abstract #1000) and simultaneously published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.”

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Alectinib Halts Lung Cancer Growth More Than a Year Longer Than Crizotinib

Medical Xpress | Jun 5, 2017

Excerpt:

“Findings from a phase III clinical trial point to a more effective initial treatment for patients with ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Compared to the current standard of care crizotinib (Xalkori), the newer ALK inhibitor alectinib (Alecensa) halted cancer growth for a median of 15 months longer and caused fewer severe side effects.

“The study will be featured in a press briefing today and presented at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.”

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Incyte ‘IDO’ Combination Lung Cancer Results Improve Slightly at ASCO17

TheStreet | Jun 3, 2017

Excerpt:

“The Wall Street gang attending the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting here will be crowding around a scientific poster this morning, craning their necks to see updated results from a small clinical trial combining Incyte’s (INCY) IDO inhibitor epacadostat with Merck’s (MRK) checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

“The headline number: The overall response rate remains 35%, although two lung cancer patients now have improved to complete responses, another 12 patients have a partial response. The data are updated as of Feb. 27.”

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Pembrolizumab/Entinostat Active in Melanoma Patients Refractory to Checkpoint Inhibitors

OncLive | Jun 4, 2017

Excerpt:

“Combining the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) with the HDAC inhibitor entinostat demonstrated promising clinical activity and acceptable safety in patients with melanoma who were refractory to immune checkpoint inhibitors.

“In the ongoing phase II ENCORE 601 trial, the PD-1/HDAC combination induced a response in 4 of 13 patients (31%; 95% CI, 9-61). The responses comprised 3 confirmed responses and 1 unconfirmed response, according to the study findings, which were presented in a poster at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting. An additional 4 patients achieved stable disease.”

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Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Highly Active in Patients With Melanoma Brain Metastases

OncLive | Jun 4, 2017

Excerpt:

“Nivolumab plus ipilimumab demonstrated an intracranial response (ICR) rate of 42% in asymptomatic patients with melanoma brain metastases who had not received prior local therapy to the brain.

“In the phase II Anti-PD1 Brain Collaboration (ABC) trial, the 6-month intracranial PFS rate was 46% with the anti–PD-1/CTLA-4 combination.

” ‘The combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab has high activity in melanoma brain metastases and may be considered for upfront therapy in such patients,’ said lead author Georgina V. Long, BSc, PhD, MBBS, clinical researcher at the Melanoma Institute Australia and Westmead Hospital in Sydney.”

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Two Combination Therapies Shrink Melanoma Brain Metastases in More Than Half of Patients

Medical Xpress | Jun 5, 2017

Excerpt:

“High response rates to a pair of combination therapies point to potentially new options for a group of metastatic melanoma patients who have been largely left out of recent treatment progress – those whose disease has spread to the brain.

“A combination regimen of two immunotherapies and another of two targeted therapies each significantly shrank metastatic in at least 50 percent of patients in separate multi-center clinical trials presented today at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting by principal investigators from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.”

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Drug Prolongs Survival for Some with Breast Cancer

WebMD | May 31, 2017

Excerpt:

“A drug called Xeloda can extend the lives of some women whose breast cancer is not wiped out by standard treatment, a new clinical trial finds.

“Oncologists said the results are ‘practice-changing.’

” ‘This drug is already approved, and we’ve been using it for a long time in cancer treatment,’ said Dr. Stephen Malamud, an oncologist at Mount Sinai in New York City.

“Xeloda (capecitabine) is a pill, so it’s easy to take and is ‘much less toxic’ than standard chemotherapy, noted Malamud, who was not involved in the new research.”

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Final TH3RESA, EMILIA Results Confirm Role of Trastuzumab Emtansine in HER2+ Breast Cancer

Cancer Network | May 25, 2017

Excerpt:

“Final results from two large phase III trials confirm that the drug-antibody conjugate trastuzumab emtansine improves overall survival (OS) over other treatment options in patients with previously treated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. The results of the EMILIA and TH3RESA trials confirm the agent’s role in this setting.

“Trastuzumab emtansine, which links the antibody trastuzumab with the cytotoxic microtubule inhibitor DM1, was approved based on earlier results of the EMILIA study. The new analysis of that trial offers approximately twice the length of follow-up, at a median of 24.1 months.”

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Malaria Drug Improves Efficacy of Glioblastoma Treatment

Healio | May 30, 2017

Excerpt:

“A treatment regimen that included the inexpensive anti-malaria drug chloroquine dramatically improved survival and quality of life for three patients with glioblastoma, according to researchers from University of Colorado Cancer Center.

“Two of the patients maintained response to treatment for more than 2 years.

” ‘We were excited that the three patients who tried the combination all had some clinical benefit,’ Jean Mulcahy Levy, MD, investigator at University of Colorado Cancer Center and pediatric oncologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, told HemOnc Today. ‘This supports examining this combination in a broader clinical trial and assessing its efficacy in a larger patient population.’ ”

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