Clinical

Venetoclax (Venclexta), in combination with low dose cytarabine, has been granted a breakthrough therapy designation for use in elderly, treatment-naive patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who cannot handle intensive chemotherapy.

A new study has analyzed data from randomized controlled trials in oncology that used surrogate endpoints and measured their relation with treatment effectiveness and patient survival in the real world.

Study used gene biomarker to identify which patients with colon cancer would not benefit from chemotherapy.

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) can demonstrate the effects of a disease or treatment. By using patient questionnaires, the results can be analyzed to predict clinical outcomes in medical research for diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS).

In recent years, biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) have advanced the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, poor adherence to treatments have increased the patient and society burden of the chronic disease.

A review of past literature on topical corticosteroid phobia in atopic dermatitis sought to better understand a phenomenon that is a major factor in treatment failure.

The age a woman experiences natural menopause is associated with her risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

In a study designed to identify the relevant cost per number needed to treat for the 2 biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs tocilizumab (TCZ) and abatacept, researchers determined that TCZ had a higher efficacy.

There are multiple factors that can affect how patients respond to treatment or how their health is maintained. One that is gaining more attention is how social interactions can benefit a person’s health.

Social interaction during chemotherapy treatments can positively influence a cancer patient’s health through improving patient outcomes and patient survival rates.

A poster session at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting presented the trial details of IRONCLAD, a randomized phase 3 study of ibrutinib versus no consolidation following autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for activated-B-cell subtype relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

In a late-breaking abstract at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, researchers presented an interim analysis of a randomized phase 2 trial of second- or third-line nivolumab, with or without ipilimumab, in patients with second- or third-line malignant pleural mesothelioma.

The International Duration Evaluation of Adjuvant chemotherapy (IDEA) collaboration found evidence to support the noninferiority of 3 versus 6 months oxaliplatin-based adjuvant therapy for capecitabine plus oxaliplatin for patients with stage III colon cancer.

The FDA recently approved Vosevi-a fixed-dose combination tablet containing FDA-approved sofosbuvir and velpatasvir, and a new drug, voxilaprevi-to treat adults with the hepatitis C virus who do not have cirrhosis (liver disease).

The majority of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) do not receive positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy despite its effectiveness in reducing hospitalizations, according to research.

Report notes that 74% of drugs that are currently in development are potentially first-in-class medicines, and 822 drugs in development are for rare diseases.

According to findings from a 63-center international study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, complete lymph node excision may not be essential for improved outcomes in melanoma.

An interim analysis of two phase 2 trials, reported in a poster session at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, has found that trabectedin and lurinectedin demonstrated remarkable activity as single agents in BRCA2-associated metastatic breast cancer.

A late-breaking abstract at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting reported a significant effect on overall and failure-free survival from the addition of abiraterone at the start of androgen deprivation therapy in men with high-risk prostate cancer.

A late-breaking abstract at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting showed that alectinib demonstrates efficacy and favorable tolerability compared with crizotinib in the primary results of the global phase 3 ALEX study in patients with treatment-naïve advanced anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

ARCHER 1050, the first phase 3 head-to-head study of epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibition, has produced results that demonstrate statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement with dacomitinib compared with gefitinib (Iressa) as first-line therapy for non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR-activating mutations.

An early stage international clinical trial is actively enrolling patients with relapsed, advanced or metastatic non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to evaluate response to a combination of atezolizumab and daratumumab, according to a study at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology that detailed the trial design.

Managing heavily pretreated, often less fit, patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma is a challenge in routine practice, as illustrated by the fact progression-free survival remains short, although daratumumab-based combination therapies are proven effective, according to results presented during a poster session at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

A phase 1 study, presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, found that using daratumumab, an antibody that binds and inhibits the CD38 receptor, can improve patient response to treatment.

Updated trial results at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology showed the combinations of daratumumab with either lenalidomide and dexamethasone or bortezomib and dexamethasone prolonged progression-free survival for patients with relapsed refractory multiple myeloma.

Legislators and Congress need to be pressured to achieve more price transparency in order to manage the high costs on insulin says Alan Carter, PharmD, principal investigator and senior advisor at MRIGlobal, and adjunct faculty at University of Missouri­—Kansas City School of Pharmacy.