FLASCO News

FDA approves rituximab plus chemotherapy for pediatric cancer indications

Posted December 3, 2021

On December 2, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved rituximab (Rituxan, Genentech, Inc.) in combination with chemotherapy for pediatric patients (≥6 months to <18 years) with previously untreated, advanced stage, CD20-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), Burkitt lymphoma (BL), Burkitt-like lymphoma (BLL), or mature B-cell acute leukemia (B-AL).  Efficacy was evaluated in Inter-B-NHL Ritux 2010 (NCT01516580), a global multicenter, open-label, randomized (1:1) trial of...

FDA approves Darzalex Faspro, Kyprolis, and Dexamethasone for Multiple Myeloma

Posted December 1, 2021

On November 30, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved daratumumab + hyaluronidase-fihj (Darzalex Faspro, Janssen Biotech, Inc.) and carfilzomib (Kyprolis, Amgen, Inc.) plus dexamethasone for adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received 1 to 3 prior lines of therapy. Efficacy was evaluated in a single-arm cohort of PLEIADES (NCT03412565), a...

FDA approves sirolimus protein-bound particles for malignant perivascular epithelioid cell tumor

Posted November 23, 2021

On November 22, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved sirolimus protein-bound particles for injectable suspension (albumin-bound) (Fyarro, Aadi Bioscience, Inc.) for adult patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic malignant perivascular epithelioid cell tumor (PEComa).  Efficacy was evaluated in AMPECT (NCT02494570), a multicenter, single-arm clinical trial in 31 patients with locally advanced unresectable or...

FDA approves asciminib for Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia

Posted October 29, 2021

On October 29, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to asciminib (Scemblix, Novartis AG) for patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) in chronic phase (CP), previously treated with two or more tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), and approved asciminib for adult patients with Ph+ CML in CP with the T315I...

FDA approves atezolizumab as adjuvant treatment for non-small cell lung cancer

Posted October 15, 2021

On October 15, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq, Genentech, Inc.) for adjuvant treatment following resection and platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with stage II to IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have PD-L1 expression on ≥ 1% of tumor cells, as determined by an FDA-approved test.  Today, the FDA also approved the VENTANA PD-L1 (SP263) Assay (Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.) as a companion diagnostic device...

FDA approves pembrolizumab combination for the first-line treatment of cervical cancer

Posted October 13, 2021

On October 13, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda, Merck) in combination with chemotherapy, with or without bevacizumab, for patients with persistent, recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer whose tumors express PD-L1 (CPS ≥1), as determined by an FDA-approved test.  FDA also granted regular approval to pembrolizumab as a single agent for patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer with disease progression on or after chemotherapy whose tumors...

FDA approves abemaciclib with endocrine therapy for early breast cancer

Posted October 13, 2021

On October 12, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved abemaciclib (Verzenio, Eli Lilly and Company) with endocrine therapy (tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor) for adjuvant treatment of adult patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative, node-positive, early breast cancer at high risk of recurrence and a Ki-67 score ≥20%, as determined by an FDA approved test. This is the first CDK 4/6 inhibitor approved for adjuvant treatment...

FDA recognizes Memorial Sloan-Kettering database of molecular tumor marker information

Posted October 8, 2021

On October 7, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration granted recognition to a partial listing of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Oncology Knowledge Base (OncoKB) as the first tumor mutation database to be included in the Public Human Genetic Variant Databases.  FDA recognized a portion of the OncoKB as a source of valid scientific evidence for Level 2 (clinical significance) and Level 3 (potential clinical significance) biomarkers. Under the FDA’s database...

Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute Names Michael Diaz, MD as President & Managing Physician

Posted October 4, 2021

Medical Oncologist to Succeed Lucio Gordan, MD in 2022 Fort Myers, Fla., September 30, 2021 – Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute (FCS) is pleased to announce that Michael Diaz, MD will assume the role of President & Managing Physician, effective January 1, 2022.  He succeeds Lucio Gordan, MD, who has served in that position since...

FDA approves brexucabtagene autoleucel for relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Posted October 4, 2021

On October 1, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved brexucabtagene autoleucel (Tecartus, Kite Pharma, Inc.) for adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Efficacy was evaluated in ZUMA-3 (NCT02614066), a single-arm multicenter trial that evaluated brexucabtagene autoleucel, a CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, in adults with relapsed...

FDA approves ruxolitinib for chronic graft-versus-host disease

Posted September 23, 2021

On September 22, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved ruxolitinib (Jakafi, Incyte Corp.) for chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) after failure of one or two lines of systemic therapy in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older. Efficacy was evaluated in REACH-3 (NCT03112603), a randomized, open-label, multicenter clinical trial of ruxolitinib compared to best...

FDA approves cabozantinib for differentiated thyroid cancer

Posted September 22, 2021

On September 17, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved cabozantinib (Cabometyx, Exelixis, Inc.) for adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with locally advanced or metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) that has progressed following prior VEGFR-targeted therapy and who are ineligible or refractory to radioactive iodine. Efficacy was evaluated in COSMIC-311,...

FDA grants accelerated approval to tisotumab vedotin-tftv for recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer

Posted September 21, 2021

On September 20, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to tisotumab vedotin-tftv (Tivdak, Seagen Inc.), a tissue factor-directed antibody and microtubule inhibitor conjugate, for adult patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer with disease progression on or after chemotherapy. Approval was based on innovaTV 204, an open-label, multicenter, single-arm clinical trial (NCT03438396)....

How the new DNA privacy law could affect your practice

Posted September 20, 2021

Under the Protecting DNA Privacy Act (HB 833), signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis on June 29, collecting or submitting another person’s DNA sample for analysis without his or her express consent now constitutes a second-degree felony in the state of Florida. While this legislation was intended to prevent the unauthorized use of personal DNA information,...

American Medical Association – Prior Authorization and Utilization Management Reform Principles

Posted September 20, 2021

Patient-centered care has emerged as a major common goal across the health care industry. By empowering patients to play an active role in their care and assume a pivotal role in developing an individualized treatment plan to meet their health care needs, this care model can increase patients’ satisfaction with provided services and ultimately improve...

FDA grants accelerated approval to mobocertinib for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations

Posted September 16, 2021

On September 15, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to mobocertinib (Exkivity, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) for adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 insertion mutations, as detected by an FDA-approved test, whose disease has progressed on or after platinum-based...

FDA approves zanubrutinib for Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia

Posted September 2, 2021

On August 31, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved zanubrutinib (Brukinsa, BeiGene) for adult patients with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia (WM). Zanubrutinib was investigated in ASPEN (NCT03053440), a randomized, active control, open-label trial, comparing zanubrutinib and ibrutinib in patients with MYD88 L265P mutation (MYD88MUT) WM. Patients in Cohort 1 (n=201) were randomized 1:1 to receive zanubrutinib...

FDA approves ivosidenib for advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma

Posted August 27, 2021

On August 25, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved ivosidenib (Tibsovo, Servier Pharmaceuticals LLC) for adult patients with previously treated, locally advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma with an isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test. Today, the FDA also approved the Oncomine Dx Target Test (Life Technologies Corporation) as a companion diagnostic...

FDA approves nivolumab for adjuvant treatment of urothelial carcinoma

Posted August 20, 2021

On August 19, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved nivolumab (Opdivo, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with urothelial carcinoma (UC) who are at high risk of recurrence after undergoing radical resection. This is the first FDA approval for adjuvant treatment of patients with high-risk UC. The results supporting this approval...

FDA grants accelerated approval to dostarlimab-gxly for dMMR advanced solid tumors

Posted August 18, 2021

On August 17, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to dostarlimab-gxly (Jemperli, GlaxoSmithKline LLC) for adult patients with mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) recurrent or advanced solid tumors, as determined by an FDA-approved test, that have progressed on or following prior treatment and who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options. Today, the FDA...

FDA approves belzutifan for cancers associated with von Hippel-Lindau disease

Posted August 13, 2021

On August 13, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved belzutifan (Welireg, Merck), a hypoxia-inducible factor inhibitor for adult patients with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease who require therapy for associated renal cell carcinoma (RCC), central nervous system (CNS) hemangioblastomas, or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNET), not requiring immediate surgery. Belzutifan was investigated in the ongoing Study...

FDA approves pembrolizumab for high-risk early-stage triple-negative breast cancer

Posted July 27, 2021

On July 26, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda, Merck) for high-risk, early-stage, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in combination with chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment, and then continued as a single agent as adjuvant treatment after surgery. FDA also granted regular approval to pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy for patients with locally recurrent...

FDA grants regular approval to pembrolizumab and lenvatinib for advanced endometrial carcinoma

Posted July 23, 2021

On July 21, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda, Merck) in combination with lenvatinib (Lenvima, Eisai) for patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma that is not microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR), who have disease progression following prior systemic therapy in any setting and are not candidates for curative surgery or...

FDA approves belumosudil for chronic graft-versus-host disease

Posted July 16, 2021

On July 16, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved belumosudil (Rezurock, Kadmon Pharmaceuticals, LLC), a kinase inhibitor, for adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older with chronic graft-versus-host disease (chronic GVHD) after failure of at least two prior lines of systemic therapy. Efficacy was evaluated in KD025-213 (NCT03640481), a randomized, open-label, multicenter dose-ranging...

FDA Approves Enfortumab Vedotin For Locally Advanced/Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma

Posted July 12, 2021

Enfortumab vedotin-ejfv has been approved by the FDA for locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer. The FDA has approved enfortumab vedotin-ejfv (Padcev) for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have previously undergone treatment with a PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor and platinum-containing chemotherapy or who are otherwise ineligible for...

Reaching Across the Aisle: Cardio-Oncology Advocacy and Program Building

Posted July 12, 2021

FDA approves daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj with pomalidomide and dexamethasone for multiple myeloma

Posted July 12, 2021

On July 9, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj (Darzalex Faspro, Janssen Biotech, Inc.) in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone for adult patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior line of therapy including lenalidomide and a proteasome inhibitor. Efficacy was evaluated in APOLLO (NCT03180736), an open-label, active-controlled...

FDA grants regular approval to enfortumab vedotin-ejfv for locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer

Posted July 9, 2021

On July 9, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved enfortumab vedotin-ejfv (Padcev, Astellas Pharma US, Inc.), a Nectin-4-directed antibody and microtubule inhibitor conjugate, for adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have previously received a programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand (PD-L1) inhibitor and platinum-containing chemotherapy, or are ineligible for...

Jazz Pharmaceuticals Announces U.S. FDA Approval of Rylaze™ (asparaginase erwinia chrysanthemi (recombinant)-rywn) for the Treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia or Lymphoblastic Lymphoma

Posted July 1, 2021

Approval under U.S. FDA’s Real-Time Oncology Review program represents an important therapeutic advance for pediatric and adult patients who develop hypersensitivity to E. coli-derived asparaginase treatmentsRylaze is expected to become commercially available in the U.S. in mid-JulyCompany to host investor webcast in July; details to follow DUBLIN, June 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq: JAZZ) today announced...

FDA Approves Component of Treatment Regimen for Most Common Childhood Cancer

Posted July 1, 2021

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Rylaze (asparaginase erwinia chrysanthemi (recombinant)-rywn) as a component of a chemotherapy regimen to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients who are allergic to the E. coli-derived asparaginase products used most commonly for treatment. The only other FDA-approved drug for such patients...

FDA approves asparaginase erwinia chrysanthemi (recombinant) for leukemia and lymphoma

Posted July 1, 2021

On June 30, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved asparaginase erwinia chrysanthemi (recombinant)-rywn) (Rylaze, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) as a component of a multi-agent chemotherapeutic regimen for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL) in adult and pediatric patients 1 month or older who have developed hypersensitivity to E. coli-derived asparaginase. Efficacy...

FDA approves avapritinib for advanced systemic mastocytosis

Posted June 16, 2021

On June 16, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved avapritinib (Ayvakit™, Blueprint Medicines Corp.) for adult patients with advanced systemic mastocytosis (AdvSM), including patients with aggressive systemic mastocytosis (ASM), systemic mastocytosis with an associated hematological neoplasm (SM-AHN), and mast cell leukemia (MCL). Efficacy was evaluated in EXPLORER (NCT02561988) and PATHFINDER (NCT03580655), two multi-center, single-arm,...

FDA warns that vapors from alcohol-based hand sanitizers can have side effects

Posted June 16, 2021

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that symptoms such as headache, nausea, and dizziness can occur after applying alcohol-based hand sanitizers to the skin. These symptoms are likely to have occurred because of vapors from the hand sanitizer, potentially from exposure in enclosed spaces or places with poor air circulation. We have...