Dave Levitan

Combining mitoxantrone and prednisone with adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy failed to improve overall survival over ADT alone in patients with high-risk prostate cancer.

A biomarker known as RAD51 was found to be correlated with resistance to PARP inhibitor treatment in a study of breast cancer that harbors BRCA mutations.

At AACR 2018, Dr. Aung Naing of MD Anderson presented ECHO-203, the first data on epacadostat in combination with an anti–PD-L1 inhibitor.

Previous studies found calcium channel blockers could prevent pancreatic cancer, but have neglected to consider the effects of short-acting CCBs.

At AACR 2018, Dr. Alexander Eggermont presented results of KEYNOTE-045/EORTC 1325-MG, in which melanoma patients with recurrence on placebo can receive pembrolizumab.

Laboratory studies suggest that mechanisms of resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy differ between the specific subtypes of HER2-positive breast cancer.

The FDA has granted approval of rucaparib for maintenance therapy in patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer.

The combination of the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib with the MEK inhibitor binimetinib yielded improved progression-free survival over vemurafenib in patients with advanced BRAF V600–mutant melanoma.

Pembrolizumab offered stable or improved measures of global health status and quality of life compared with chemotherapy in patients with previously treated advanced urothelial cancer.

The combination of nivolumab with an interleukin-15 agonist was well tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicities in patients with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer.

Five-year results showed durable responses and long-term overall survival in a proportion of patients with pretreated advanced non–small-cell lung cancer who received nivolumab.

The FDA has granted a Breakthrough Therapy designation to the antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer.

Two new studies have found that some HER2-positive and triple-negative breast cancer patients can avoid sentinel lymph node biopsy after neoadjuvant systemic therapy.

Increases in resource use were not associated with improved survival or quality of care for patients with metastatic prostate cancer, but were associated with higher healthcare costs.

The rate of severe acute toxicity was relatively low in a study of radiosensitization with veliparib for patients with inflammatory or locally recurrent breast cancer.

Proton radiation therapy offers some reduced toxicity over IMRT in patients under the age of 65 with prostate cancer, but its cost is nearly double.

Interventions can improve sun protection behaviors, but this does not necessarily correlate with skin cancer/melanoma outcomes, according to a review for the USPSTF.

ASTRO has released new guidelines recommending hypofractionated whole-breast irradiation for women with breast cancer.

The combination of selumetinib with dacarbazine did not offer improved survival outcomes over placebo/dacarbazine in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma.

A registry study suggests that there may be a familial association between ovarian and testicular cancers.

The kinase inhibitor fruquintinib offered improved outcomes vs placebo as a third- and fourth-line treatment in advanced non–small-cell lung cancer.

Abiraterone plus prednisolone/prednisone, or docetaxel, combined with ADT may be the most effective therapies for metastatic hormone-naive prostate cancer.

A large study found no association between the use of metformin or statins and the incidence of ovarian cancer in women with type 2 diabetes.

Lisinopril and carvedilol reduced cardiotoxicity in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab and anthracyclines.

Substantial variation in treatment patterns can explain geographic differences in survival outcomes in patients with lung cancer, according to a UK study.

Some patients with HER2-positive breast cancer may develop an immunosuppressive phenotype based on an increase in regulatory T cells following treatment.

Alterations to DDR genes were associated with improved outcomes in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma who were treated with immunotherapy.

A meta-analysis was unable to find a conclusive relationship between physical activity and the risk of prostate cancer, though a reduced risk was suggested.

Vinflunine did not improve overall survival compared with physician’s choice of alkylating agent in patients with heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer.

A large phase I trial offers further evidence that the anti–PD-L1 agent avelumab is generally well tolerated and results in relatively few serious adverse events.