Overall survival among patients with non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer who are treated with adjuvant gemcitabine and docetaxel is comparable to overall survival for treatment with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), researchers reported in the Journal of Urology. The evidence could support a treatment alternative for high-risk patients during the BCG shortage.
More than 40% of adult patients with mismatch repair deficient recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer had an overall response receiving dostarlimab-gxly (Jemperli), and more than 90% of those lasted six months or longer during the drug’s clinical trials. Those results led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to grant the agent its original accelerated approval in 2021 for the indication. FDA expanded the accelerated approval later that year to include all recurrent or advanced solid tumors with dMMR demonstrated through an FDA-approved diagnostic test.
On December 14, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved updated labeling for capecitabine tablets (Xeloda®) under Project Renewal, an Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) initiative aimed at updating labeling information for certain older oncology drugs to ensure information is clinically meaningful and scientifically up to date. Capecitabine is the first drug to receive a labeling update under the pilot program.
Making a commitment to equip today’s and future nurses with the knowledge they need to deliver safe, high-quality care, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Health Resources and Services Administration, awarded $13 million in October 2022 to programs to improve access to. The awarded funds are part of a series of investments the Biden-Harris Administration earmarked to support pathways to nursing jobs.
Self-reflection is natural as we transition between years, and sometimes doing so can be difficult. Brains seem to really like to hold onto the lows, but give yourself equal time to celebrate the highs you experienced this year and reflect on all you’re grateful for as you get ready for another trip around the sun.
On December 12, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to adagrasib (Krazati®), a RAS GTPase family inhibitor, for adult patients with KRAS G12C–variant locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as determined by an FDA-approved test, and who have received at least one prior systemic therapy.
Significant progress has been made with childhood cancer, especially with the efforts of Children's Oncology Group (COG), but some areas still need attention, Doug Hawkins, MD, COG chair, a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded network of researchers and hospitals, explained in a September 2022 interview with NCI.
Inflating more than 50% since 2017, the annual price of newly launched cancer drugs averages $283,000 in 2022, according to a new report from the office of U.S. Representative Katie Porter (D-CA). Although new drugs for any condition are also seeing record-breaking high prices, the cost of new anticancer therapeutics is 3.7 times higher than that of non-oncology drugs.
Patients with cancer experiencing financial hardship during routine care are nearly 1.5 times more likely to die than those who aren’t, researchers reported in study findings published in JCO Oncology Practice.
On December 9, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq®) for adult and pediatric patients aged 2 years and older with unresectable or metastatic alveolar soft part sarcoma.