CancerNetwork®’s Week in Review: April 12, 2021
Take a look back at some of the important news and notes from last week in the world of oncology, featuring news from the FDA and articles about prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, and more.
Each Monday, CancerNetwork® highlights the most important content from the previous week in oncology news.
Among the top news from last week are actions by the FDA that brought medical devices and systemic therapies closer to use in the real-world setting. First, cryoablation technology earned breakthrough therapy designation to treat patients with early breast cancer. Then, sacituzumab govitecan (Trodelvy) was granted full approval for the treatment of patients with triple-negative breast cancer.
Cryoablation Technology for Early Breast Cancer Earns Breakthrough Therapy Designation
The next-generation cryoablation technology ProSense was granted breakthrough device designation to treat certain patients with T1 breast tumors.
The technology uses liquid nitrogen–based cryoablation for a minimally invasive destruction of tumor cells. This designation from the FDA will allow for an accelerated review and feedback from the agency through the development process to commercialization.
MRI Before Biopsy Led to Improved Benefit-Harm Profile, Cost-Effectiveness for Prostate Cancer
Investigators used a hypothetical cohort of men with prostate cancer to test the benefits associated with MRI imaging before biopsy in regard to age-based and risk-stratified screening.
The observed improvements associated with an MRI-first pathway were greater when utilizing a risk-stratified screening method based on age and polygenic risk profile, which warrants further prospective evaluation.
FDA Grants Full Approval to Sacituzumab Govitecan for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Following last year’s accelerated approval designation, the FDA granted regular approval to sacituzumab govitecan to treat patients with triple-negative breast cancer.
The approval comes following positive safety and efficacy data for 529 patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who relapsed after 2 or more prior systemic therapies, with at least 1 therapy for metastatic disease, reported from the multicenter, open-label, randomized ASCENT trial.
Recombinant Adenovirus 5 Vaccine Shows Promise Against Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
A second-generation human adenovirus 5 immunotherapy vaccine has activity in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who are not responding to other available therapies.
The second-generation human Ad5 immunotherapy vaccine targeting tumor-associated antigens (TAA) of prostate-specific antigen, MUC-1, and brachyury showed immune activation in 17 patients evaluated, with all participants mounting a T-cell response in at least 1 TAA.
Long-Term OS Data for Olaparib Maintenance in Ovarian Cancer Show Clinically Meaningful Boost
With more than 5 years of follow-up, results from the SOLO2 trial of olaparib (Lynparza) maintenance in relapsed, high-grade serous or endometrioid ovarian cancer, including primary peritoneal or fallopian tube cancer, were reported and showed superiority of the agent over placebo.
The results published in Lancet Oncology indicate a 26% reduction in the risk of death with active versus placebo therapy (HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 95% CI, 0.54-1.00; P = .054) and represent a clinically meaningful improvement in this patient group.
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