The AJMC® Precision Medicine in Oncology compendium is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and expert insights for molecular profiling of tumors.
CAR NK Cells Demonstrate Encouraging Preliminary Results, Study Shows
February 6th 2020Anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor natural killer (CAR NK) cells, derived from donor umbilical cord blood, produced a 73% objective response rate in 11 patients with lymphoid tumors who received just 1 dose of the infused therapy, with no occurrences of cytokine release syndrome or neurotoxicity, in preliminary study results out of MD Anderson. Seven patients had a complete remission.
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Reengineering CAR T Cells to Optimize Their Powers
January 30th 2020Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells are a patient’s own, harvested and reengineered to attack specific malignant cells. They were initially developed using knowledge gleaned from allogeneic stem cell transplants: that donor mature immune cells can attack healthy cells in the recipient patient.
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CMS Agrees to Cover NGS for Medicare Patients With Breast, Ovarian, Other Cancers
January 28th 2020CMS said it is expanding coverage of next generation sequencing (NGS) for use as a diagnostic for patients with germline breast and ovarian cancer, paving the way for Medicare beneficiaries to receive more personalized medicine. However, an advocate said the wording of CMS' decision could actually limit testing access for some women with breast or ovarian cancer.
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MRD Status an Important Prognostic Factor in Pediatric B-Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Study Says
January 24th 2020Minimal residual disease (MRD), a measure of how many cancer cells remain in a patient during or following chemotherapy or stem cell transplant, is a potent indicator of whether or not a patient is likely to relapse; recent research probed the associations between MRD status and certain prognostic risk factors in childhood B-lymphoblastic leukemia after both induction and consolidation.
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Dr Stuart Goldberg: Biomarkers and Genomic Testing Can Impact Cancer Care
January 24th 2020Several barriers exist when it comes to effectively integrating genomic testing and biomarkers into cancer testing and care, said Stuart Goldberg, MD, Chief of the Division of Outcomes and Value Research at the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center.
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Dr C. Ola Landgren on Getting Groundbreaking Research Into the Clinic Faster
January 23rd 2020Minimal residual disease (MRD) may be prevalent in clinical trials and discussed at conferences, but it is not really used widely in practice, said C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and chief of the Myeloma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer.
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clonoSEQ Assay Medicare Coverage Expanded to Include MRD in CLL
January 14th 2020clonoSEQ, from Adaptive Biotechnologies, is a next-generation sequencing assay with existing Medicare coverage to monitor for minimal residual disease (MRD) in multiple myeloma and B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The newest Medicare coverage is for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), which takes effect immediately.
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Blueprint Medicines' Ayvakit Approved for Rare GIST With PDGFRA Mutation
January 10th 2020The platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA) exon 18 mutation occurs in close to 6% of patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), the most common being the D842V mutation, for which there is no effective, approved treatment. The drug previously received breakthrough therapy, fast track, and orphan drug designations.
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Dr C. Ola Landgren: MRD Is a Growing Topic of Interest in Cancer
January 8th 2020While minimal residual disease (MRD) has been a topic of research for at least a decade, right now it is more top of mind than ever before for people treating cancer, said C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and chief of the Myeloma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer.
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Partnership Seeks to Offer Combined Somatic, Germline Testing to Guide Cancer Treatment
January 7th 2020Caris Life Sciences, a leader in somatic testing on cancer tumor cells, has joined forces with Ambry Genetics to offer its 67-gene test that evaluates a patient’s hereditary risk for cancer.
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Dr Lindsey Roeker on Using MRD for Decision Making
December 29th 2019So far, minimal residual disease (MRD) has not been used much outside of clinical trials, but researchers are testing how it might be used to guide decisions in clinical practice, said Lindsey Roeker, MD, clinical fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
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Dr Michael Wang on the Coming Precision Medicine Era in Mantle Cell Lymphoma
December 27th 2019The next era in treating mantle cell lymphoma will use precision medicine to target therapies in a personalized way, said Michael Wang, MD, professor in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at MD Anderson.
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Biomarker Use in Colorectal Cancer
December 18th 2019Despite a 20% drop in mortality since 2009, colorectal cancer accounted for 9.8% (881,000) of deaths worldwide in 2018 and represents 10.2% of all cancer cases worldwide. It is No. 3 on the list of most prevalent cancers worldwide—1.8 million new cases in 2018—behind only lung cancer and breast cancer.
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Dr Rita Nanda on Using Precision Medicine to Scale Back on Chemotherapy Treatments in Breast Cancer
December 16th 2019Although the pembrolizumab 8 arm of I-SPY2 did not have strong enough results to continue onto phase 3, it does provide some insights and highlights the need for precision medicine to tailor approaches to treatment, said Rita Nanda, MD, associate professor, medicine, The University of Chicago Medicine.
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At Increasing Levels of Sensitivity, NGS-MRD Detects CLL in Bone Marrow
December 14th 2019A study presented at the 61st American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition in Orlando, Florida, discussed the first report of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to test for minimal disease response (MRD) after the combination of ibrutinib plus fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (iFCR) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
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Dr Sarah Tasian: NGS Has Revolutionized Treating Children With AML
December 14th 2019The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) has meant better care for children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a better understanding of rare subtypes of genetic AML, and a better prognosis for these patients, said Sarah Tasian, MD, attending physician in the Division of Oncology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
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