Receiving antibiotics in the 30 days prior to starting immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment was associated with significantly reduced median overall survival, according to findings from a study published in JAMA Oncology. However, antibiotic use during treatment had no effect on survival.

Jenni is an oncology nurse practitioner in an outpatient medical oncology clinic. She is meeting with 70-year-old Don after his first cycle of cabozantinib for treatment of metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma when he asks why the oncologist put him on a pill instead of using IV chemotherapy. “Is it because I don’t have long to live?” Don wonders.

On November 14, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to zanubrutinib (Brukinsa™) for adult patients with mantle cell lymphoma who have received at least one prior therapy.

On October 23, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved niraparib (Zejula®) for patients with advanced ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer treated with three or more prior chemotherapy regimens and whose cancer is associated with homologous recombination deficiency (HRD)-positive status. HRD is defined by either a deleterious or suspected deleterious BRCA mutation, or genomic instability in patients with disease progression greater than six months after response to the last platinum-based chemotherapy.

When treated with their own nonengineered T cells plus chemotherapy, six of seven patients with inoperable or metastatic pancreatic cancer showed objective responses or stable disease, according to the results of a study reported at the American Association for Cancer Research’s Immune Cell Therapies for Cancer conference in July 2019.

A manufacturing delay leading to a shipping delay caused the October 2019 vincristine shortage, according to a letter Pfizer sent to its customers on October 18; the U.S. Food and Drug Administration first reported the shortage on October 16. It affects both the 1 mg/ml and 2 mg/2 ml single-dose ONCO-TAIN™ glass fliptop vials.

Based on the results of the phase III ARAMIS trial that demonstrated significant improvement in metastasis-free survival, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved darolutamide under priority review on July 30, 2019. Darolutamide is approved for nonmetastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer in men receiving concurrent gonadotropin-releasing hormone therapy or who have had bilateral orchiectomy.

Although death rates from breast cancer have been falling, the trend has not been equal among all women. Looking at breast cancer survival on a population level can tell us how effective our public health and healthcare systems are at early diagnosis, delivery of evidence-based treatment, and management of follow-up care.

On September 26, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved daratumumab (Darzalex^®) for adult patients with multiple myeloma in combination with bortezomib, thalidomide, and dexamethasone in newly diagnosed patients who are eligible for autologous stem cell transplant.

Pembrolizumab, lenalidomide, and avelumab all received new treatment indications in spring 2019. Here’s what you need to know about dosing, adverse events, and other nursing considerations for these and other drugs that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved from April–June 2019.

Erdafitinib (Balversa™) is the first targeted therapy that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for treatment of metastatic bladder cancer. 

On September 17, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved apalutamide (Erleada^TM) for patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer. Apalutamide was initially approved in 2018 for patients with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Researchers are testing a new approach using an amphiphilic cancer vaccine to deliver CAR T-cell therapy to solid tumors, and the results of preclinical studies are promising, according to findings published in the journal Science.

On September 17, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to the combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda^®) plus lenvatinib (Lenvima^®) for the treatment of patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma that is not microsatellite instability high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) and who have disease progression following prior systemic therapy but are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation.

On September 3, 2019, AmEx Pharmacy issued a voluntary recall of two dosages of injectable bevacizumab. Although injectable bevacizumab is used in cancer treatment, the formulations affected by the recall are for much smaller dosages that are used to treat eye diseases (i.e., macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy).

Two-year survival rates for patients with advanced melanoma increased quickly after the introduction of ipilimumab in 2011, according to an analysis published the journal Cancer.

Venetoclax (Venclexta^®) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on May 15, 2019, for the treatment of adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) as a single agent or in combination therapy. Previously, it had been approved in late 2018 for use in combination therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in older adults or those with significant comorbidities.

On August 16, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fedratinib (Inrebic®) for adults with intermediate-2 or high-risk primary or secondary (post-polycythemia vera or post-essential thrombocythemia) myelofibrosis.

On August 15, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to entrectinib (Rozlytrek^TM) for adults and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with solid tumors that have a neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase (NTRK) gene fusion without a known acquired resistance mutation, are metastatic or where surgical resection is likely to result in severe morbidity, and have progressed following treatment or have no satisfactory standard therapy.

Two recent studies demonstrated CAR T-cell therapy activity in certain types of solid tumors, according to results presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting. The CAR T cells used new targets outside of the CD19 targets used for the therapy’s current approvals in leukemia and lymphoma. 
 

Traditionally defined as patients aged 65 and older, older adults make up the majority of patients with cancer. Ambulatory care clinics with a specialized focus on older patients with cancer can provide age-specific care and an interprofessional team of providers well versed in cancer, aging, and geriatric assessment. Through geriatric oncology ambulatory care clinics, providers can work together to identify and coordinate plans to individualize treatment and supportive care for older patients.  

A 33-year-old woman presents to the emergency department with fever, weight loss, and dyspnea. She is five months pregnant. A computed tomography (CT) chest scan without contrast shows a large mediastinal mass. Biopsy demonstrates Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), but magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of her abdomen and pelvis without contrast is negative for lymphadenopathy. Her echocardiogram and pulmonary function testing are normal.

On July 30, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) for patients with recurrent, locally advanced or metastatic, squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus (ESCC) whose tumors express PD-L1 (combined positive score [CPS] ≥10), as determined by an FDA-approved test, with disease progression after one or more prior lines of systemic therapy.

On July 30, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved darolutamide (Nubeqa®) for non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq^®) in 2016, but it received additional approvals when used in combination treatments for locally advanced or metastatic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in March 2019.

Which tumor marker can be used to assess stage, prognosis, response to treatment in germ cell tumors, lymphoma, melanoma, acute leukemia, and neuroblastoma?

A. Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1)

B. HE4

C. Cytokeratin fragment 21-1

D. Lactate dehydrogenase

Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC, is voluntarily recalling two lots of fluorouracil injection, USP 5 g/100 mL (50 mg/mL), 100 mL fill in 100 mL vials, to the user level because of the potential for glass particulate. The affected lots, distributed between December 6, 2018, and February 20, 2019, are listed below:

As of February 2019, only 160 institutions across the United States are certified to administer CAR T-cell therapy, meaning many eligible patients may need to be referred to a treatment center outside of the local ambulatory or community cancer center where they had previously received treatment. The transition from primary oncologist to certified center and back again requires careful coordination to ensure important steps and information aren’t lost.

On July 3, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to selinexor (Xpvio^TM) in combination with dexamethasone for adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) who have received at least four prior therapies and whose disease is refractory to at least two proteasome inhibitors, at least two immunomodulatory agents, and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody.

A prediction test accurately identifies which women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer will benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy, according to the results of a study published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. 
 

On June 27, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved daratumumab (Darzalex^®) in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplant.

Findings from two phase I clinical trials presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 2019 annual meeting indicate that targeting CAR T cells against mesothelin for advanced solid tumors and HER2 for advanced sarcoma is safe and shows clinical antitumor activity.

Because two oral therapies received new indications in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) most recent round of approvals, oncology nurses will want to focus on ways to manage patients in the home. Assessing oral adherence, encouraging patients to report adverse events, and ensuring their understanding of complex dosing regimens are critical components of nursing care. ONS offers an oral adherence toolkit and oral chemotherapy patient education sheets to help with patient management. 

In a perpetual search to refine research and scientific advancements in the pursuit of fighting cancer, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is investing in research that will help practitioners further understand how treatments and combinations of treatments can benefit patients. Through a focus on precision oncology, researchers are examining which combinations of therapies would work best for each individual patient based on a number of factors, including genetics and genomics.

A new product that combines trastuzumab and hyaluronidase (Herceptin Hylecta™) received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in February 2019 for the treatment of HER2-overexpressing breast cancer. The approval was based on the results of two randomized trials: HannaH and SafeHER. 

On June 17, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) for patients with metastatic small cell lung cancer with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy and at least one other prior line of therapy.

On June 10, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic or unresectable recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

On June 10, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to polatuzumab vedotin-piiq (Polivy^TM), a CD79b-directed antibody-drug conjugate indicated in combination with bendamustine and a rituximab product for adult patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified, after at least two prior therapies.

Preliminary results reported in Nature Medicine showed that a redesigned CAR T-cell therapy produced complete response with no severe toxicities in 25 patients with refractory B-cell lymphoma.

Advanced practice RNs (APRNs), especially those with Doctorate of Nursing Practice degrees, in clinics across the country must not only focus on managing care for patients on novel therapies like immunotherapy but must also look at toxicities and adverse events from a population perspective. APRNs should look across all patients and disease types receiving the same novel treatments and recognize toxicity patterns to determine best practices for patient management. 

Clinical practice is in a constant state of evolution as new guidelines are released, drugs are approved for new indications, and technology reshapes the way care is delivered. Patients are also arming themselves with a more-advanced-than-ever knowledge and understanding of health care, and providers may be fielding new questions from patients and caregivers about novel treatments such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy and biosimilars. 

In May 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added new clarifications to its risk evaluation and mitigation strategy and black box warnings for blinatumomab (Blincyto^®). Blinatumomab is a bispecific, CD19-directed CD3 T-cell engager indicated for the treatment of adults and children with (a) B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in first or second complete remission with minimal residual disease greater than or equal to 0.1% or (b) relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor ALL.

On May 28, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved lenalidomide (Revlimid^®) in combination with a rituximab product for previously treated follicular lymphoma and previously treated marginal zone lymphoma.

On May 24, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved alpelisib (Piqray®) in combination with fulvestrant for postmenopausal women, and men, with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative, PIK3CA-mutated, advanced or metastatic breast cancer as detected by an FDA-approved test following progression on or after an endocrine-based regimen.

On May 24, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ruxolitinib (Jakafi®) for steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older.

Initially approved in 2018, talazoparib (Talzenna^®) capsules are indicated for the treatment of adult patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline breast cancer susceptibility gene HER2-negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

On May 15, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved venetoclax (Venclexta®) for adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).

On May 14, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved avelumab (Bavencio®) in combination with axitinib for first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

On May 3, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kakcyla®) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer (EBC) who have residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant taxane and trastuzumab-based treatment.

On May 2, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ivosidenib (Tibsovo®) for newly-diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a susceptible IDH1 mutation, as detected by an FDA-approved test, in patients who are at least 75 years old or who have comorbidities that preclude the use of intensive induction chemotherapy.