Clinical

Researchers at Indiana University have confirmed the clinical utility of 2 laboratory tests that can distinguish benign pancreatic cancer lesions that mimic early signs of cancer and spare patients of unnecessary pancreatic cancer screenings or surgeries.

The FDA has approved Genentech’s Rituxan Hycela for subcutaneous injection for the treatment of certain blood cancers. Rituxan Hycela has similar outcomes as Rituxan, but can be delivered in 5 to 7 minutes compared with 1.5 hours for Rituxan.

A phase 3 clinical trial of patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis and primary progressive multiple sclerosis found that Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) significantly reduced disease progression, according to results released by Genentech.

The FDA has approved the use of Janssen Biotech, Inc’s immunotherapy Darzalex in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone. Darzalex is used to treat multiple myeloma patients who have previously received at least 2 therapies with lenalidomide and a proteasome inhibitor.

The FDA has approved Baxdela, a drug intended to treat adults with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections caused by susceptible bacteria. Baxdela is also effective in treating MRSA and against other gram-positive or gram-negative pathogens.

According to a research study published in the journal Cancer, Asian women are less likely than non-Hispanic white women to receive timely follow-up after an abnormal screening mammogram.

With more women dying annually from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than men since 2000, researchers have examined trends in COPD hospitalization and in-hospital mortality, evaluating for differences by sex and race. They presented their research at the American Thoracic Society 2017 International Conference.

A collaborative study among scientists working across 3 continents has found a strong association between circulating free DNA in patients being treated with olaparib (Lynparza) for prostate cancer and disease outcome.

Scott Ramsey, MD, PhD, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses determining cost effectiveness of novel treatments, such as immuno-oncology agents, and potential solutions to reducing financial toxicity in cancer care.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis with high multi-biomarker disease activity scores have an increased risk of radiographic progression, according to a new analysis of 6 different studies.

New data has demonstrated an association between high Vectra DA scores and an increased risk of joint damage progression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

On June 14, 2017, Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN) announced its launch of a new study that will research the connection between pancreatic cancer and new-onset diabetes. This $2.7 million study will span 3 years and aims to discover a method to detect pancreatic cancer while it can still be cured.

A meta-analysis spearheaded by The International Testicular Cancer Consortium has identified new susceptibility loci in the human genome that can increase a person’s risk of developing inherited testicular germ cell tumors.

An update on the latest developments in clinical and healthcare services research in oncology.

A drug previously used in an attempt to treat cancer, now has the potential to be repurposed to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

High-quality cancer care can only occur when the “transitions in care” are delivered in a prospectively planning, systematic, patient-centered way.

Data presented by the FDA at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting identified a need for educating community-based oncology practices on testing for programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) protein expression before patients diagnosed with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) are treated with nivolumab or pembrolizumab.

Patients with psoriasis often have lower success treatments with biologic agents in clinical practice than clinical trials, leading to higher doses and therefore higher annual treatment costs.

The theme of this year's American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting was Making a Difference in Cancer Care With You.

A new study analyzing breast cancer data in the SEER database has concluded that small tumors detected following a mammography might be small because they are slow-growing, and not necessarily because they were detected early.

A phase 1 study, presented at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, found that including daratumumab can improve patient response to treatment in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.

A new study estimates that the cooperative research network SWOG, which is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), has considerably impacted the US population over its 60-year history, as its 23 positive clinical trials have generated about 3.34 million life-years gained.

Updated results from the POLLUX and CASTOR trials, presented at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, have found that including daratumumab in standard-of-care regimens prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) and improved the depth of response, independent of the patients’ cytogenetic risk.

At the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, oncologists heard from fellow experts on the best way to navigate this daunting payment reform challenge.

Craig Portell, MD, of the University of Virginia Health System, highlights some of the latest and most exciting treatments in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, including CAR-T therapies and targeted therapies such as venetoclax.

The impact that generics have on bringing down the cost of branded drugs needs to happen in the biologics space so the industry can save money and improve access to medications and population outcomes, according to Edward Li, PharmD, MPH, BCOP, of the University of New England.