May 2019, Vol 9, No 5

The discontinuation of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) is considered safe and appropriate in consenting patients with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) under specific circumstances and with careful molecular monitoring, according to the updated National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) management guideline for CML. Read Article ›

Given the high cost of oncology drugs, it is important for pharmacists to become more business savvy regarding their practices, said Andrea Ledford, PharmD, BCOP, Oncology Pharmacy Manager, Orlando Health UF Health Cancer Center, FL, at the 2019 Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association Annual Meeting. Read Article ›

First-line therapy with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus ­axitinib (Inlyta) significantly improved overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and objective response rates compared with standard-of-care sunitinib (Sutent) in patients with clear-cell metastatic renal-cell carcinoma (RCC) in KEYNOTE-426. The combination of pembrolizumab plus axitinib achieved a significant 47% reduction in mortality risk versus sunitinib (P <.0001). Read Article ›

The oncology pharmacist plays an invaluable role in the management of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). However, as the pipeline for new anticancer drugs continues to expand, the pipeline for novel antiemetics appears to be drying up, underlining the importance of the pharmacist’s knowledge of currently available antiemetics for patients ­undergoing chemotherapy, said ­Michael J. Berger, PharmD, BCOP, Clinical Specialty Pharmacist, The James Cancer Hospital at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, at the 2019 Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) Annual Meeting. Read Article ›

Options for the treatment of patients with advanced hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer are expanding. The updated National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guideline (version 1.2019) for the management of invasive breast cancer is focused on HR-positive, HER2-­negative disease. William J. Gradishar, MD, Director, Maggie Daley Center for Women’s Cancer Care, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, discussed the updated guideline at the NCCN 2019 Conference. Read Article ›

The updated National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guideline for non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC; version 3.2019) is focused on improving patient outcomes with immunotherapy. Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is recommended as the preferred first-line immune checkpoint inhibitor for patients with ≥50% of tumor cells that express PD-L1. First-line immunother­apy is restricted to NSCLC without EGFR or ALK mutations. Read Article ›

Sacituzumab govitecan, a novel antibody-drug conjugate directed against Trop-2, induced responses in nearly 33% of patients with heavily pretreated, relapsed or refrac­tory metastatic urothelial cancer. Read Article ›

Darolutamide, an investigational androgen receptor ­inhibitor, significantly improved metastasis-free survival in men with high-risk nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) compared with placebo in a large phase 3 clinical trial. Read Article ›

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is associated with unique adverse events that require vigilant monitoring, aggressive care, and specialized management. Marco L. Davila, MD, PhD, Medical Oncologist, Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cellular Immunotherapy Program, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, provided an overview of this topic at the 2019 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-­Oncology Symposium. Read Article ›

Promising markers of response to immune checkpoint inhibition include tumor mutation burden (TMB) and genomic markers that reflect a disruption of the tumor immunity cycle, said Natalie Vokes, MD, MPhil, Medical Oncology Fellow, ­Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, ­Boston, at the 2019 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium. Read Article ›