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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Zenocutuzumab Approved to Treat Lung and Pancreatic Cancers with Rare Genetic ChangeFDA has approved zenocutuzumab (Bizengri) to treat people with pancreatic or non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors have a rare genetic alteration called an NRG1 fusion. The approval is based on a clinical trial in which the drug shrank tumors in a third of patients.
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Intensive Program Helps People Being Screened for Lung Cancer Quit SmokingResults from a large NCI-funded clinical trial show that a comprehensive program that integrates intensive counseling and cessation medications may be a particularly effective way to help smokers being screened for lung cancer quit.
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Combination Therapy for Metastatic Prostate Cancer Helps Some Men Live LongerFor men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, initial treatment with enzalutamide (Xtandi) combined with talazoparib (Talzenna) may help them live longer than getting enzalutamide alone, according to updated results from a large clinical trial.
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TACE-Based Treatment Combinations Effective Against Intermediate-Stage Liver CancerResults from two clinical trials show that combining a procedure called TACE with an immunotherapy drug and angiogenesis inhibitor improves how long people with intermediate-stage liver cancer live without their disease returning or getting worse.
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Blinatumomab Boosts Chemotherapy as Initial Treatment for Some Kids with ALLFollowing positive results from a clinical trial, the immunotherapy drug blinatumomab (Blincyto) is expected to become part of the standard initial treatment for many kids with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common form of childhood cancer.
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Experimental CAR T-Cell Therapy Shrinks Tumors in Children with Deadly Brain CancerIn a small clinical trial, an experimental CAR T-cell therapy that targets the protein GD2 on cancer cells shrank tumors—for 2 years or more in several cases—in children and young adults with diffuse midline glioma, an aggressive brain and spinal cord cancer.
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Cetuximab Outperforms Durvalumab for Head and Neck Cancer When Cisplatin Isn’t an OptionThe findings from a recent NCI-supported clinical trial are helpful because previous studies for people with locally advanced head and neck cancer have yielded conflicting data for and against several alternatives to cisplatin combined with radiation.
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Helping Kids with Cancer Speak for the Supportive Care They NeedYounger cancer patients who filled out surveys about their symptoms experienced fewer cancer-related symptoms than those who did not complete the surveys, results from two clinical trials have shown. The findings show patient-reported outcome (PRO) surveys for children can give an accurate picture of how a child is feeling during the stress of treatment.
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Trial Results Support SBRT as a Standard Option for Some Prostate CancersIn a trial, men who received stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) didn’t have a higher risk of cancer recurrence than men treated with other common radiation therapy regimens that are given over longer periods.
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Nivolumab Appears to Boost Cure Rate in Advanced Hodgkin LymphomaIn a nearly 1,000-patient trial, treatment with nivolumab (Opdivo) and the chemotherapy regimen AVD was better at eliminating cancer and keeping it at bay than the current standard initial treatment for the disease, AVD and brentuximab (Adcetris). The nivolumab combination also had fewer side effects.
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Bladder Cancer Trial Finds Extended Lymph Node Surgery Doesn’t Improve SurvivalA randomized clinical trial comparing two types of surgery in people with localized muscle-invasive bladder cancer found that more extensive surgery removing a larger group of lymph nodes did not improve survival, compared with standard lymph node surgery.
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Delivering Palliative Care by Telehealth Meets the Needs of People with CancerIn a study of people with advanced lung cancer, palliative care delivered via telehealth was just as effective at improving patients’ quality of life and other measures of well-being as care delivered in person.
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Will Ponsegromab Be a Game Changer for Cancer Cachexia?In a clinical trial, people with advanced cancer and cachexia treated with the experimental drug ponsegromab gained an average of 2 to 6 pounds over 12 weeks, depending on the dose they received. Participants treated with the placebo lost an average of 1 pound over the same time period.
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Combination Chemo Helps People with Leiomyosarcoma Live LongerResults from a French clinical trial have identified what experts say should now be the recommended initial treatment of advanced leiomyosarcoma. In the trial, the combination of trabectedin (Yondelis) and doxorubicin improved survival by a median of 9 months.
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Clinical Trial Results Support Uninterrupted Use of Imatinib for Some Gastrointestinal Stromal TumorsTrial participants who stopped imatinib had a more rapid worsening of disease, a shorter time until resistance, and did not live as long as participants who continued the therapy uninterrupted.
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Drug Combo JAKs Up Immunotherapy in Two Clinical TrialsScientists have been searching for ways to make immune checkpoint inhibitors work for more patients. In two trials, researchers explored a possible role for JAK inhibitors, which dampen chronic inflammation.
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Lorlatinib Slows Growth of ALK-Positive Lung Cancers, May Prevent Brain MetastasesLorlatinib (Lorbrena) is superior to crizotinib (Xalkori) as an initial treatment for people with ALK-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer, according to new clinical trial results. Treatment with lorlatinib also helped prevent new brain metastases.
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Trial Establishes Preferred Treatment for Some People with Esophageal CancerFor people with locally advanced esophageal cancer, a chemotherapy regimen called FLOT is the preferred treatment, according to results from a large clinical trial. People treated with FLOT lived much longer than those treated with the CROSS regimen.
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Durvalumab Extends Lives of People with Early-Stage Small Cell Lung CancerThe immunotherapy drug durvalumab (Imfinzi) can help people with early-stage small cell lung cancer live longer, results from a large clinical trial show. Three years after starting treatment, nearly 60% of people who received the drug were still alive.
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Pembrolizumab Is First Adjuvant Therapy to Improve Overall Survival in Kidney CancerIn a large clinical trial, treatment with pembrolizumab after surgery helped people with kidney cancer live longer than those who got a placebo and standard monitoring. The findings mark the first time an adjuvant treatment for kidney cancer has improved survival.