Newswise Researchers from UCLAs Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center led by Dr. Antoni Ribas, professor of medicine in the division of hematology-oncology, report preliminary results showing significant antitumor activity with very manageable side effects from a new drug being tested in patients with advanced melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Ribas presented the results at the 2013 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology this morning in Chicago, and the study was published online ahead of press in The New England Journal of Medicine immediately afterward. The drug, lambrolizumab (also known as MK3475), discovered and developed by Merck, received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April. Results These results are from the first clinical trial of lambrolizumab in patients with advanced melanoma and are based on analysis of 135 patients with metastatic melanoma who were divided into three groups with different treatment regimens. Overall, lambrolizumab resulted in 38% of patients having confirmed improvement of their cancer across all dose levels given. This ranged between 25% in patients who received the lowest dose, to 52% in patients who received the highest dose. The rate of any tumor response across all patients was 77%. … Continue reading →

A drug approved to treat brain tumors does not improve survival rates and should be dropped from initial treatment regimes because it also worsens side effects, a study found Sunday. Genentech's bevacizumab (Avastin) received approval from US drug regulators for the treatment of recurring brain tumors called glioblastoma, or GBM, after promising results from several clinical trials. However, a randomized trial of 637 patients found no difference in survival rates between those who took the drug to supplement their chemotherapy and those who took a placebo. "Unless we can identify a group of patients that clearly benefits from early use of bevacizumab, it appears that it should not be used in the first-line setting," said Mark Gilbert, a professor of neuro-oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. "Bevacizumab remains an important part of our armory against glioblastoma, but in most situations it should be reserved as a salvage regimen." While the patients who received the drug also showed more side effects -- particularly low platelet counts, blood clots and high blood pressure -- Gilbert said the increased toxicity would be acceptable if a survival benefit had been found. The phase III trial also concluded that … Continue reading →