Global Oncology | Specialty

The OncLive® Global Oncology condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and international expert insights on treatment of patients with cancer. This page features articles focused on ex-US regulatory news, interviews in written and video format, and podcasts that focus on unmet needs, treatment advances, and ongoing global research in oncology care.

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks: Repurposing Cancer Drugs to Combat COVID-19

February 5th 2021

February 4, 2021 - In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, investigators have turned to tried-and-true cancer drugs to see whether they can be used to combat the virus.

Selinexor Approved in Israel for Multiple Myeloma, DLBCL

February 4th 2021

February 4, 2021 — The Israeli Ministry of Health has approved selinexor for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Gilteritinib Receives Conditional Approval in China for FLT3+ AML

February 4th 2021

February 4, 2021 - The China National Medical Products Administration has granted a conditional approval to gilteritinib for use in adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia with a FLT3 mutation detected by a validated test.

Ceralasertib/Durvalumab Combo Shows Efficacy in NSCLC Following Anti–PD-L1 Therapy

February 3rd 2021

February 3, 2021 - The combination of ceralasertib plus durvalumab improved overall response rate in patients with non‒small cell lung cancer who progressed on an anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy.

Larotrectinib Elicits Early Clinical Activity in NTRK Fusion–Positive Lung Cancer

February 2nd 2021

February 2, 2021 — Larotrectinib was found to elicit high response rates, durable responses, and to extend survival benefit in patients with advanced lung cancer whose tumors harbor an NTRK gene fusion, including those with central nervous system metastases.

QoL, Efficacy Data Support Use of Frontline Lorlatinib as New Standard in ALK+ NSCLC

February 2nd 2021

February 2, 2021 - The time to treatment deterioration for symptoms such as cough, dyspnea, and pain in the chest was found to be comparable between treatment-naïve patients with ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer who received lorlatinib versus crizotinib.

cfDNA Methylation Assay Allows for Early Lung Cancer Detection

February 1st 2021

February 1, 2021 — Targeted circulating tumor DNA methylation marker panels possess the potential for early blood-based detection of lung cancer with a high sensitivity and specificity.

Pembrolizumab Approaches EU Approval for Expanded Indication in Relapsed/Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma

February 1st 2021

February 1, 2020 - The European Medicines Agency’s Committee of Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended a label expansion for pembrolizumab for use as a single agent in adult and pediatric patients aged 3 years and older with relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma for whom autologous stem cell transplant has failed or following at least 2 previous therapies when ASCT is not an option.

Neoadjuvant Atezolizumab Elicits Impressive Responses in Resectable NSCLC

January 30th 2021

January 30, 2021 - Neoadjuvant atezolizumab followed by surgery resulted in a major pathologic response in 21% of patients with resectable stage IB-IIIB non–small cell lung cancer, as well as significant surgical outcomes with a high rate of R0 resection.

CONFIRM Data Push Nivolumab into Treatment Landscape for Relapsed Mesothelioma

January 30th 2021

January 30, 2021 - Data from the phase 3 CONFIRM trial support single-agent nivolumab as an effective treatment approach for patients with previously treated malignant mesothelioma.

HRQoL Maintained With Adjuvant Osimertinib in EGFR+ NSCLC

January 30th 2021

January 29, 2021 - Health-related quality of life was maintained for patients with EGFR-positive non–small cell lung cancer who received treatment with adjuvant osimertinib versus placebo, with no clinically meaningful differences noted between study arms.

Pembrolizumab/Ipilimumab Combo Does Not Improve Survival, Shows Higher Toxicity in PD-L1+ NSCLC

January 30th 2021

January 29, 2021 - Pembrolizumab plus ipilimumab did not improve survival and had higher rates of toxicity versus pembrolizumab monotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer who had a PD-L1 tumor proportion score of 50% or greater, and did not harbor EGFR or ALK aberrations.

Mobocertinib Shows Encouraging ORR in EGFR Exon 20–Mutant Advanced NSCLC

January 30th 2021

January 29, 2021 — Mobocertinib (formerly TAK-788) demonstrated clinically meaningful benefit and a manageable safety profile in previously treated patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer who have EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations.

Selinexor Approaches EU Approval for Refractory Multiple Myeloma

January 30th 2021

January 29, 2021 - The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has adopted a positive opinion for selinexor for use in combination with dexamethasone in the treatment of select adult patients with refractory multiple myeloma.

Datopotamab Deruxtecan Elicits Early Antitumor Activity in Relapsed/Refractory Metastatic NSCLC

January 29th 2021

January 29, 2021 - The investigational antibody-drug conjugate datopotamab deruxtecan demonstrated encouraging antitumor activity and a manageable safety profile in patients with advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer.

Patritumab Deruxtecan Displays Promising Efficacy in EGFR-Mutant NSCLC

January 29th 2021

January 29, 2021 - The HER3-directed antibody-drug conjugate patritumab deruxtecan continued to demonstrate clinically meaningful antitumor activity and a manageable safety profile at the recommended expansion dose of 5.6 mg/kg in pretreated patients with metastatic or unresectable EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer.

COVID-19 Pandemic Has Led to Decrease in Lung Cancer Diagnoses and Increase in Mortality Rate, Study Shows

January 29th 2021

January 29, 2021 - Thirty percent fewer new lung cancer cases have been diagnosed during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic versus pre-pandemic, with more symptomatic and severe cases of non–small cell lung cancer diagnosed during this period.

Adjuvant Osimertinib Extends DFS Irrespective of Prior Adjuvant Chemo in EGFR+ NSCLC

January 29th 2021

January 29, 2021 - Adjuvant osimertinib was found to improve disease-free survival in patients with EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer, irrespective of previous adjuvant chemotherapy received or disease stage.

Trastuzumab Deruxtecan Shows Antitumor Activity in HER2-Overexpressing NSCLC

January 29th 2021

January 29, 2021 - The antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki demonstrated antitumor activity in patients with HER2-overexpressing non–small cell lung cancer, irrespective of expression levels.

Nab-Paclitaxel Noninferior to Docetaxel in Previously Treated NSCLC

January 29th 2021

January 29, 2021 - Nab-paclitaxel proved to be noninferior to docetaxel, having showcased improved progression-free survival, overall survival, and overall response rate in patients with previously treated advanced non–small cell lung cancer.