Clinical advances in hematology & oncology : H&O
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On March 29, 2018, blinatumomab (Blincyto, Amgen) received an accelerated expanded approval for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who are in first or second complete remission (CR) and have minimal residual disease (MRD). Blinatumomab was first approved for use in adult patients (in December 2014) and later in pediatric patients (in September 2016) with relapsed or refractory Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-negative B-cell precursor ALL; the approval was expanded in July 2017 to include patients with Ph-positive disease. The agent is a bispecific CD19-directed CD3 T-cell engager.
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Clin Adv Hematol Oncol · Apr 2011
ReviewEmerging therapeutic options for platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer patients.
Ovarian cancer is a relatively infrequent malignancy, but it is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality in American women. The initial diagnosis of ovarian cancer is usually made when the disease is at an advanced stage. Although advanced ovarian cancer is characteristically sensitive to initial surgical debulking followed by platinum-based combination chemotherapy, it is rarely cured, and even patients who achieve a complete remission ultimately go on to experience relapsed disease. ⋯ Finally, a description of emerging and investigational treatments, including both biologic agents and novel cytotoxic drugs, is included. Several recent and ongoing clinical trials involving these investigational agents are described. Throughout, the experts discuss the implication of these findings in the clinical setting.
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Clin Adv Hematol Oncol · Feb 2013
ReviewEmerging treatments in chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.
Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is a concern for many cancer patients. It can have an enormous impact on quality of life. CINV occurring in the first 24 hours after treatment is considered acute, and CINV occurring on days 2 through 5 after treatment is considered delayed. ⋯ Control of CINV allows patients to complete treatment and to minimize use of health care resources and additional medications. Current antiemesis agents, such as 5-hydroxytryptamine-3 (5-HT3) antagonists and neurokinin-1 (NK-1) antagonists, have markedly decreased hospitalization for chemotherapy and have nearly eliminated acute emesis. The second-generation 5-HT3 receptor palonosetron has a unique pharmacology that makes it especially effective at preventing delayed emesis.
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Clin Adv Hematol Oncol · Aug 2005
ReviewGastrointestinal stromal tumors and the evolution of targeted therapy.
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) historically have differed from other soft-tissue sarcomas in demonstrating a particularly grim prognosis. GISTs have an extraordinarily high rate of recurrence after surgical resection and are highly resistant to radiation and standard chemotherapy. The discovery that constitutive activation of the c-kit gene drives malignant behavior in GISTs exposed a weakness that was soon exploited through the application of the novel targeted therapy imatinib, a small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor of Bcr-Abl, KIT, and the platelet-derived growth factor receptor-alpha and -beta. ⋯ Additionally, multiple new targeted agents are being tested in patients with imatinib-resistant GIST. The gains that have been made in the treatment of GIST through the use of imatinib have helped to open the door to a new era of development of targeted therapeutic agents in oncology. Whether this new era of targeted therapy will provide the same advances in more common malignancies will be determined only through the ongoing application and development of clinical trials.