FDA Grants Approval for Pembrolizumab in Combination With Chemotherapy for First-Line Treatment of Metastatic Nonsquamous NSCLC

On August 20, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab in combination with pemetrexed and platinum as first-line treatment of patients with metastatic, non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations.

August 20, 2018

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

FDA Approves Encorafenib and Binimetinib in Combination for Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma With BRAF Mutations

On June 27, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved encorafenib and binimetinib (Braftovi and Mektovi) in combination for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600E or V600K mutation, as detected by an FDA-approved test.

June 28, 2018

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy Plus Chemo Improves Survival in Metastatic Lung Cancer

Combining pembrolizumab and platinum chemotherapy plus pemetrexed doubles survival in patients with nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSNSCLC) without EGFR or ALK gene mutations, according to the results of a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

June 06, 2018

ONS Congress

Combination Drug Offers New Treatment Option for Relapsed Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

More than 130,000 new cases of colorectal cancers (CRCs) are diagnosed in the United States each year, representing 8% of all new annual cancer cases. The rate of patients with CRC surviving more than five years is 65.1%; however, patients with metastatic disease (mCRC) have a poorer prognosis, with only 13.5% surviving more than years. As many as 40% of patients with mCRC remain candidates for third-line therapy, with some patients requiring up to five lines of therapy because of drug resistance.

July 01, 2017

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

FDA Approves Dabrafenib and Trametinib Combination for Metastatic NSCLC with BRAF V600E Mutation

On June 22, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted (FDA) regular approvals to dabrafenib and trametinib (Taflinar^® and Mekinist^®, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Inc.) administered in combination for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with BRAF V600E mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test.

June 23, 2017

Melanoma

Combination Treatment Improves Survival for Advanced Melanoma

A combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab improved overall survival when compared to either drug alone, according to results from a recent study reported at the American Association for Cancer Research 2017 annual meeting.

June 21, 2017

ASCO Annual Meeting

Chemotherapy Plus Radiotherapy Not Superior to Radiotherapy Alone in Improving Survival for Patients With High-Risk Endometrial Cancer

Women with high-risk endometrial cancer (EC) are at an increased risk of metastasis and death. The randomized, intergroup PORTEC-3 study assessed the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy during and after radiotherapy (RT) versus pelvic RT alone in this patient population. The researchers presented the study at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

June 02, 2017

Clinical practice

The Challenge of Caring for Multiple Patients With Cancer

As more new treatments enter practice—like immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and combination therapies—oncology nurses are required to be experts in every treatment they administer. They need to constantly walk a tightrope, balancing multiple medications for one patient then quickly moving to the next patient on a completely different treatment protocol.

May 17, 2017

Multiple myeloma

Bortezomib May Improve Outcomes in Multiple Myeloma

Adding bortezomib to combination therapy with lenalidomide and dexamethasone may improve progression-free and overall survival in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. The study findings were published in Lancet.

April 12, 2017

Cancer treatments

Combination Therapy Shows Promise for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

January 18, 2017

Cancer treatments

Combination Therapy Shows Promise for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

According to the results of a new study published in Science Translational Medicine, a combination regimen consisting of a BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor and a B-cell lymphoma 2 inhibitor may one day result in a cure for chronic myeloid leukemia.

January 03, 2017

Cancer treatments

Combination Therapy Shows Promise for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

According to the results of a new study published in Science Translational Medicine, a combination regimen consisting of a BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor and a B-cell lymphoma 2 inhibitor may one day result in a cure for chronic myeloid leukemia.

January 03, 2017

Cancer treatments

Radiation Plus Chemotherapy Improves Survival From Low-Grade Gliomas

A new study has shown that patients with grade 2 gliomas who are treated with radiation therapy plus a combination of chemotherapy have better survival than patients treated with radiation alone. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

June 01, 2016

Combination therapy

FDA Approves Carfilzomib in Combination With Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone for Treatment of Relapsed Multiple Myeloma

On July 24, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved carfilzomib (Kyprolis, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an Amgen subsidiary) in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who have received one to three prior lines of therapy.

July 24, 2015

Combination therapy

FDA Approves Combination of Mekinist and Tafinlar for Advanced Melanoma

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to trametinib (Mekinist tablets, GlaxoSmithKline, LLC) and dabrafenib (Tafinlar capsules, GlaxoSmithKline, LLC) for use in combination in the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600E or V600K mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test.

January 10, 2014