Clinical Trial Results - Cancer Currents Blog
Reports on findings from cancer clinical trials, with commentary from leading researchers on how the trial results will affect patient care.
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Drug Regimen Boosts Survival of People with Advanced Colorectal CancerA new treatment regimen may help improve the survival of some people with advanced colorectal cancer, according to results from an international clinical trial. The new regimen includes bevacizumab (Avastin) and the combination of trifluridine and tipiracil (Lonsurf).
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Motixafortide May Improve Stem Cell Transplants for People with Multiple MyelomaIn a clinical trial of people with multiple myeloma, giving motixafortide with filgrastim markedly increased the number of stem cells that could be collected. The treatment may allow more people with this cancer to get optimal numbers of stem cells for a transplant.
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Rare Melanoma Very Likely to Respond to Treatment with PembrolizumabPeople with desmoplastic melanoma, a rare form of skin cancer, are likely to benefit from treatment with a single immunotherapy drug, pembrolizumab (Keytruda), according to new results from a small clinical trial.
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Nirogacestat May Offer Hope to People with Desmoid TumorsIn a clinical trial, the drug nirogacestat shrank tumors in 40% of people with desmoid tumors. Treatment with nirogacestat also substantially improved progression-free survival, pain, and physical functioning, compared with patients treated with a placebo.
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Revumenib Shows Promise in Treating Advanced Acute Myeloid LeukemiaTreatment with revumenib caused complete remission in about one-third of participants in an early-phase clinical trial involving patients who’d had many prior treatments. Revumenib is part of a new class of targeted drugs known as menin inhibitors.
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Immunotherapy’s Role in Treating Endometrial Cancer Expected to GrowIn two clinical trials, combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with standard chemotherapy substantially increased how long people with advanced endometrial cancer lived without their cancer worsening, particularly those with dMMR or MSI-high tumors.
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Immunotherapy after Surgery Shows Long-Term Benefits for High-Risk Bladder CancerUpdated results from a large clinical trial confirm that, for some people with bladder cancer, receiving immunotherapy after surgery is an effective treatment. In 2021, initial results from the same trial led to FDA approval of nivolumab (Opdivo) for this use.
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Lung-Sparing Surgery Is Effective for Some with Early-Stage Lung CancerFor certain people with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer, sublobar surgery to remove only a piece of the affected lung lobe is as effective as surgery to remove the whole lobe, new research shows.
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Immunotherapy and… Nothing Else? Studies Test Potential Paradigm Shift in Cancer TreatmentFor some people with cancer, is 6 months of immunotherapy the only treatment they might ever need? Or 4 weeks of immunotherapy followed by minor surgery? Results from several small clinical trials suggest these scenarios may be bona fide possibilities.
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Help Desk for Oncologists Treating People with a Rare Leukemia Pays Big DividendsAn NCI-funded clinical trial has shown that treatment-related early deaths in people with a rare leukemia can be dramatically reduced. How did they do it? In part, by establishing a help desk staffed by experts in treating APL.
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Zanubrutinib’s Approval Improves Targeted Treatment for CLLFDA has approved zanubrutinib (Brukinsa) for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) based on results from two clinical trials. In both trials, the drug, which blocks a protein called BTK, was more effective and caused fewer side effects than other treatments.
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Trial Suggests Expanded Role for Blinatumomab in Treating ALLThe immunotherapy drug blinatumomab (Blincyto) extends life for people with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who are in remission, even those with no signs of disease after initial treatment, a trial has found.
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A Safer, Better Treatment Option for Some Younger Women with Breast CancerFor younger women with advanced breast cancer, the combination of ribociclib (Kisqali) and hormone therapy was much better at shrinking metastatic tumors than standard chemotherapy treatments, results from an NCI-funded clinical trial show.
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Shorter Course of Radiation Is Effective, Safe for Some with Early-Stage Breast CancerIn a large clinical trial, a condensed course of radiation therapy was as effective and safe as a longer standard course for those with higher-risk early-stage breast cancer who had a lumpectomy. This shorter radiation course makes treatment less of a burden for patients.
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Study in India Could Make Immunotherapy More Affordable WorldwideA study in India has found that an ultra-low dose of the immunotherapy drug nivolumab (Opdivo) helped people with advanced head and neck cancer live longer. Because the dose is 6% of what’s typically used in the United States and Europe, it is potentially more affordable.
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For People with Cancer, Are Steroids the Best Treatment for Breathing Problems?Results from a large NCI-funded clinical trial show that steroids were no more effective than a placebo for treating breathing problems in people with advanced cancer. And people treated with steroids were more likely to have serious side effects.
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Immunotherapy before Surgery Appears Effective for Some with MelanomaFor melanoma that can be treated with surgery, a few doses of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) beforehand looks to be a good choice. In a clinical trial, people who got the presurgical immunotherapy were much less likely to have their cancer come back than those who only received it after surgery.
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Teclistamab Shows Promise for People with Heavily Pretreated Multiple MyelomaIn a small clinical trial, nearly 40% of people with multiple myeloma who were treated with the immunotherapy drug teclistamab (Tecvayli) had all signs of their cancer disappear. The trial participants had myeloma that did not respond to or came back after three or more prior treatments.
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Study Confirms Dinutuximab Extends Life for Children with High-Risk NeuroblastomaResearchers have confirmed that the immunotherapy drug dinutuximab (Unituxin) can help children with high-risk neuroblastoma live longer. The finding is based on a trial of nearly 1,200 children with the disease.
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Pembrolizumab Improves Survival in Advanced Triple-Negative Breast CancerAdding the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to chemotherapy can help some patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer live longer. In the KEYNOTE-355 trial, overall survival improved among patients whose tumors had high levels of the PD-L1 protein.