Dave Levitan

Ponatinib showed significant antileukemic activity in patients with CML and ALL, according to a phase II study that included a wide range of disease stages and mutation status; patients in the trial had a relatively high rate of adverse thrombotic events, an issue which has led to recent regulatory controversy surrounding the drug.

Following recent trial data showing an increased risk of dangerous blood clots with ponatinib, which led the FDA to request that the manufacturer stop marketing the drug, the FDA’s European counterpart has adjusted its recommendations for ponatinib but has not changed its “positive opinion” that led to the approval.

Costs associated with cancer care vary widely between countries of the European Union, lung cancer represented the largest cost by individual malignancy, followed by breast and colorectal cancers.

Adult survivors of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) suffer from persistent and significant neurocognitive deficits, according to a new study.

The sequential combination of gemtuzumab ozogamicin and standard chemotherapy offered no benefit in older patients with AML, and led to significant toxicities in those aged at least 70 years, according to results of a new study.

In the wake of reports that the drug ponatinib (Iclusig) can significantly increase risk of dangerous cardiovascular events, the FDA has asked the manufacturer to suspend sales and marketing of the drug in the United States.

Dose-escalated hypofractionated radiotherapy yielded a maximum tolerated dose for patients with locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and shed light on dangerous toxicity at higher doses, according to a new study.

A phase III trial of the new drug idelalisib has been stopped early thanks to highly significant efficacy among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

The Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is often activated in patients with synovial sarcoma, and activation of the pathway is associated with worse outcomes, according to a new study.

The FDA issued a safety alert and reports it is investigating a high rate of thrombosis and other cardiovascular events in patients taking ponatinib (Iclusig) for CML or Philadelphia chromosome-positive ALL.

Patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma had high response rates and good long-term disease control with a chemotherapy regimen followed by consolidation reduced-dose whole-brain radiotherapy and cytarabine in a new phase II trial.

The combination of palifosfamide and doxorubicin was no better than doxorubicin and placebo in the phase III PICASSO 3 trial of patients with metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma.

A combination regimen of erlotinib and the selective MET inhibitor tivantinib did not improve overall survival compared with erlotinib and placebo among patients with locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer.

A novel agent that inhibits the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway showed good results in particular among smokers with non-small-cell lung cancer, a particularly promising result from a phase I trial.

A phase III study of the therapeutic lung cancer vaccine belagenpumatucel-L (Lucanix) failed to meet its predefined endpoint, but the vaccine showed a “considerable” increase in overall survival in patients with non–small-cell lung cancer.

A mutation of the PAX5 gene has been found to play an important role in inherited cases of B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). The mutation was isolated in two unrelated families with high propensity for B-ALL.

Gilead Sciences has submitted an NDA to the FDA for its new drug idelalisib, for the use in patients with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma that is refractory to rituximab and chemotherapy.

In order for malignancies to establish in metastatic sites, cancer cells must acquire attributes of those sites; specifically how this occurs in many cancers is relatively unknown, but a new study implicates the stroma of certain breast cancer tumors in the development of bone metastases.

Evidence continues to mount that discontinuing imatinib treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase is safe. A new phase II Dutch and Belgian study showed only about two-thirds of patients relapsed after discontinuing treatment with imatinib and cytarabine, and all patients remained sensitive to imatinib after relapse.

A phase I study of dasatinib in children and adolescents with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and other malignancies determined dosing for further studies and suggested the drug is well tolerated and effective in these patients.

Carbon ion radiotherapy is a safe and effective method for treating unresectable spinal sarcomas, according to a retrospective analysis from one center in Japan.

Bench and mouse studies have shown that the Notch1 gene is a crucial contributor to tumorigenesis in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It aids tumor initiation by suppressing apoptosis, or programmed cell death, which is regulated by p53.

A randomized phase III trial of adjuvant gefitinib in patients with completely resected non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was closed early, but available results suggest that the drug is unlikely to benefit this group of patients.

Maintenance therapy with rituximab showed some improvement over observation, though it did not reach significance, among older patients with advanced follicular lymphoma who responded to a brief chemoimmunotherapy induction regimen followed by rituximab consolidation therapy.

A phase I study showed that azacitidine priming followed by standard chemotherapy could be an effective approach to resistance in patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

Based largely on evidence from the NLST, the USPSTF recently issued a draft recommendation for annual lung cancer screening using low-dose CT in high-risk individuals.

The multikinase angiogenesis inhibitor pazopanib was well tolerated and exhibited some responses in pediatric patients with soft-tissue sarcomas and other refractory solid tumors in a phase I trial.

Results from the National Lung Screening Trial showed that screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography yielded the most benefit among individuals who were at highest risk for cancer and less benefit in lower risk people.

Almost half of the resections performed for deep and malignant extremity soft-tissue sarcomas are done by non-oncology surgeons including orthopedic surgeons and general surgeons, according to a new study.

The phase II portion of the GAUGUIN study found promising activity with the anti-CD20 antibody obinutuzumab in patients with relapsed or refractory indolent NHL.