22 June 2017 (THursday) - The Oncologist Newsletter

The regular email from “The Oncologist” came today. I can’t pretend I read the lost, but several interesting snippets were in there:

Featured Articles   Oncology Drug Approvals: Evaluating Endpoints and Evidence in an Era of Breakthrough Therapies Gideon M. Blumenthal et al.   Although the demonstration of an improvement in overall survival remains the gold standard for drug approval, this commentary reviews how innovation in cancer research has led to use of other endpoints in regulatory decision-making.   Regarding “Oncology Drug Approvals: Evaluating Endpoints and Evidence in an Era of Breakthrough Therapies” Bruce A. Chabner   This editorial addresses the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s analysis and reinvention of the cancer drug approval process. In the News   Better Treatment for High-Risk Children’s Cancer Shown in Major Trial   Entry into Application of EU Clinical Trial Regulation Postponed to 2019   Discovery Could Guide Immunotherapy for Lung Cancer

CME Activities   A Prospective Observational Study on Effect of Short-term Periodic Steroid Premedication on Bone Metabolism in Gastrointestinal Cancer (ESPRESSO-01)   Prognostic Nomograms Stratify Survival of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma without Portal Vein Tumor Thrombosis After Curative Resection   Discussions with Don S. Dizon   When Cure Isn’t What It’s Supposed to Look Like   In oncology, we strive for cure and short of that, we strive for stability. In some instances, particularly with recurrent disease, cure is rare, and the process of curative treatment can be quite extreme. But in solid tumor oncology (for the most part), we have been driven toward less-toxic treatments, less-complicated regimens, while continuing to strive for better survival.

Clinical Trial Results   Multicenter Phase II Study of Panitumumab in Platinum Pretreated, Advanced Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cancer   Lessons Learned   > Panitumumab shows activity in terms of disease control rate and preventing disease progression but not for tumor shrinkage in head and neck squamous cell cancer for second‐line treatment. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) copy number gain, a property of tumor cells that theoretically could identify patients more likely to experience disease response, was common among patients having disease control.   > This trial, given the lower toxicity with an every‐2‐week schedule, provides guidance for future trials, for example, in combinations of immune therapies and anti‐EGFR‐antibodies.