Immunotherapy
Pembrolizumab changes standard of care for recurrent, metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Pembrolizumab in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy appeared to be a safe and effective first-line treatment for recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, according to results of the randomized phase 3 KEYNOTE-048 study published in The Lancet.
Dual target CAR T/natural killer cell therapy shows promise for B-cell malignancies
ORLANDO — Two major impediments to widespread adoption of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies are their cost and antigen loss that makes them less effective over time. An allogeneic approach that combines CARs and natural killer cells into one therapy may be the solution, according to preclinical research presented at ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.
Polyfunctional strength index identifies responders to combination immunotherapy in acute myeloid leukemia
ORLANDO — Polyfunctional strength index on pretherapy bone marrow CD4-positive T cells differed substantially between responders and nonresponders to azacitidine plus nivolumab for relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia, according to results of a nonrandomized phase 2 study presented at ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.
Is it feasible to change the immunotherapy dose schedule for a patient in complete response?
Click here to read the Cover Story, “Cancer drug doses: More is not always better.”
Cancer drug doses: More is not always better
Historically, the goal of cancer treatment has been to destroy as many cancer cells as possible through chemotherapy or radiation.
Azacitidine plus pembrolizumab safe, feasible for certain patients with AML
Early discontinuation of ibrutinib for CLL prevalent in real-world treatment setting
ORLANDO — Although ibrutinib has been increasingly used for the first-line treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia in the community setting, early discontinuation of the agent appeared more prevalent in real-world practice than on clinical trials, according to results of a retrospective cohort study presented at ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.
Kite submits BLA to FDA for CAR T-cell therapy in mantle cell lymphoma
Biopharma company Kite, a subsidiary of Gilead, has submitted a biologics license application to the FDA for the company’s investigational chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy KTE-X19 for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refectory mantle cell lymphoma.
Exciting immunotherapies for lymphoma presented at ASH 2019
ORLANDO — Joshua Brody, MD, director of the lymphoma immunotherapy program, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, spoke about exciting data on novel immunotherapies for different types of lymphoma presented at ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition.
Should screening of the gut microbiome be standard practice for patients with melanoma?
Click here to read the Cover Story, “Harnessing the gut to improve cancer outcomes.”