May 19, 2016
June 2012, Vol 1, No 2
Dual Targeting in Advanced Melanoma Encouraging
Hitting 2 targets may be better than 1 in advanced melanoma, suggests a preliminary trial of combination therapy with the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and the MEK inhibitor trametinib. Combined targeting with these 2 agents achieved tumor regression with a lower incidence of skin side effects compared with published data on [ Read More ]
Conference CorrespondentNeoadjuvant Abiraterone Potential Approach
Abiraterone, which is FDA-approved for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer, had encouraging results in one of the first studies to evaluate use of this targeted agent earlier in the course of disease. Targeted hormonal therapy with abiraterone plus leuprolide was able to eradicate cancer in the prostate in some [ Read More ]
Conference CorrespondentALK-Targeted Agent Has High Activity in Some Childhood Cancers
In a preliminary phase 1 study, the targeted drug crizotinib (Xalkori) stabilized disease progression and, in some children, eradicated cancer cells in relapsed, refractory, aggressive childhood cancers that are likely to harbor genetic abnormalities in the ALK gene: anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (IMT), and aggressive neuroblastoma. [ Read More ]
Conference CorrespondentPersonalizing Therapeutics for Melanoma in the 21st Century
Advocating for biomarker-driven “smart” trials, making the case for patient selection for specific drugs, and the concept of rational combinations as potential targeted therapies in order to improve the efficacy of clinical trials were topics of an insightful presentation delivered by Dr Aleksandar Sekulic on behalf of Dr Pat LoRusso [ Read More ]
Conference CorrespondentPersonalized Medicine Advances in Melanoma: An Interview With K. Peter Hirth, PhD
Plexxikon, a member of the Daiichi Sankyo Group since 2011, works in the structureguided discovery and development of novel small-molecule pharmaceuticals to treat human disease. The company’s lead drug Zelboraf (vemurafenib/PLX4032) was approved by the FDA in August 2011 and is copromoted in the United States by Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. [ Read More ]
UncategorizedImplementing the Promise of Personalized Cancer Care
To receive credit, complete the posttest at www.mlicme.org/P11077.html. Until recently, cancer treatment relied solely on histologic diagnosis for determining systemic therapy. Aside from considerations related to a patient’s underlying comorbidities and performance status, there was minimal deviation from an organ-of-origin–based treatment strategy. This relatively primitive understanding of malignancy failed [ Read More ]
UncategorizedRapid Changes in Reimbursement Protocols for Molecular Tests
Molecular tests have proliferated over the past decade, bringing the precision of genomics into reality in the clinic, but the payment system for nucleic acid–based tests has been unchanging and primitive. This unfortunate state of affairs has limited the ability of payers to encourage (or control) the use of genomic [ Read More ]
UncategorizedManagement of Ipilimumab-Related Toxicities
Ipilimumab, a monoclonal antibody that blocks the negative costimulatory molecule CTLA-4 on T cells, leading to augmented T-cell activation and proliferation, improves overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic melanoma and was approved by the regulatory agencies in the United States and several other countries for the treatment of unresectable [ Read More ]
MelanomaCrizotinib Miracle: A Nursing Perspective
For every nurse there is a patient who you will never forget; the details of that story will not blur over time. In the developing era of personalized medicine, there is that 1 patient whose story I will not easily forget. It is the story of a 24-year-old male medical [ Read More ]
Lung Cancer