Virginia Powers, PhD

Articles

Transplantation Using Haploidentical Donors Outperforms Matched Sibling Donors in MRD+ ALL

September 9th 2020

Haploidentical donor transplantation led to stronger anti-leukemia activity compared with matched sibling donor transplantation in transplant-eligible patients with minimal residual disease–positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Basiliximab Elicits High Response Rates After Haploidentical HSCT in Pediatric Acute GVHD

September 8th 2020

Basiliximab proved to be an effective second-line treatment option for pediatric patients with steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease that developed following haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Prolgolimab Shows Promise in Advanced Melanoma

January 14th 2020

Patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma showed durable responses following treatment with the novel PD-1 inhibitor prolgolimab.

Pembrolizumab Benefit Not Altered by KRAS Status in Nonsquamous NSCLC

January 7th 2020

Two analyses presented at the 2019 ESMO Immuno-Oncology Congress provided data supporting pembrolizumab, either as monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy, as a first-line treatment option in patients with nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer, regardless of KRAS mutational status.

Safety of Frontline Durvalumab Combo Confirmed in Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer

January 4th 2020

Few immune-mediated adverse events were observed with frontline durvalumab plus platinum-based therapy and etoposide in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, and no treatment-emergent antidrug antibodies were elicited by the PD-L1 inhibitor, according to an analysis of the phase III CASPIAN trial reported at the 2019 ESMO Immuno-Oncology Congress.

Frontline Nivolumab/Ipilimumab Shows Clinical Benefit in NSCLC With Poor Prognosis

January 4th 2020

First-line treatment with nivolumab combined with low-dose ipilimumab was safe and showed encouraging overall survival, regardless of PD-L1 expression, in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer, including those with comorbidities or poor ECOG performance status.

BL-8040 Plus Pembrolizumab/Chemo Provides Disease Control in Pancreatic Cancer

January 2nd 2020

A triplet regimen of the CXCR4 antagonist BL-8040 plus pembrolizumab and standard chemotherapy showed promising antitumor activity in the second-line setting for the treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Frontline Nivolumab Combo Succeeds in Squamous NSCLC, But Misses OS Endpoint in Nonsquamous Histology

December 31st 2019

The first-line combination of nivolumab and platinum-based chemotherapy improved overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rate compared with chemotherapy in patients with squamous non–small cell lung cancer, but did not improve survival in those with nonsquamous disease.

High PD-L1 Expression, bTMB Effective Markers for Single-Agent Atezolizumab Benefit in NSCLC

December 29th 2019

PD-L1-high status, determined via 3 separate immunohistochemistry assays, and blood tumor mutational burden strongly favored atezolizumab over platinum-based chemotherapy and supports the PD-L1 inhibitor as a first-line treatment option in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer.

Concurrent Ibrutinib With CAR T-Cell Therapy Improves ORR, Reduces Severe CRS in High-Risk CLL

June 22nd 2019

Patients with high-risk relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia who failed or were intolerant of ibrutinib derived more benefit from CD19‐targeted CAR T-cell therapy when the BTK inhibitor was concurrently administered than when it was not.

Nivolumab/Brentuximab Vedotin Combo Is Highly Active in Relapsed/Refractory PMBCL

June 21st 2019

Nearly three-fourths of patients with relapsed/refractory primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma responded to a combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris).

Lisocabtagene Maraleucel Continues to Show Promise in Relapsed/Refractory CLL

June 21st 2019

The CAR T-cell therapy lisocabtagene maraleucel demonstrated high rates of response, including minimum residual disease in blood and marrow in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma.

Acalabrutinib Is Viable Option for Ibrutinib-Intolerant Relapsed/Refractory CLL

June 21st 2019

Acalabrutinib elicited high rates of response as well as prolonged survival and was well tolerated in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who demonstrated intolerance to ibrutinib.

Genetic Analysis Provides Insight Into Venetoclax/Obinutuzumab Benefit in Frontline CLL

June 20th 2019

In a careful evaluation of chemotherapy‐free regimens, the combination of obinutuzumab plus venetoclax compared to obinutuzumab plus chlorambucil, objective and complete response rates, as well as progression-free survival were superior with the venetoclax combination in the overall study population and across all genetic subgroups evaluated in patients with chronic lymphocytic lymphoma.

Optimal Upfront Lenalidomide/R-CHOP Use Remains Puzzle in DLBCL

June 20th 2019

Patients with activated B-cell-type diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with a poor prognosis may benefit from frontline treatment with lenalidomide plus standard R-CHOP, according to subgroup data from the phase III ROBUST trial presented at the 2019 International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma.

Single-Agent Acalabrutinib Showcases Potential Practice-Changing Data in Relapsed/Refractory CLL

June 17th 2019

Chemotherapy-free treatment with single-agent acalabrutinib provided a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival compared with physicians’ choice of standard therapy in patients with previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Ibrutinib Significantly Prolongs PFS in Early-Stage CLL

June 16th 2019

Ibrutinib monotherapy significantly improved event- and progression-free survival compared with placebo in treatment-naïve patients with early-stage, asymptomatic chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Phase III BELLINI Data Showcase Safety Concerns With Venetoclax in Multiple Myeloma

June 16th 2019

Despite promising progression-free survival and response data with venetoclax in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone, an increased number of deaths due to infection in the experimental arm marred overall survival findings in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

New Macrophage Immune Checkpoint Strategy Shows Promise in AML and MDS

June 16th 2019

Hu5F9-G4 (5F9), a first-in-class antibody targeting CD47, used as monotherapy or in combination with standard azacitidine was well tolerated and provided deep and durable responses in patients with acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome, according to findings from a phase IB study presented at the 2019 European Hematology Association Congress.

Addition of Rigosertib Improves Azacitidine Benefit in Patients With Higher-Risk MDS

June 15th 2019

The combination of rigosertib and azacitidine demonstrated improved response rates over single-agent azacitidine in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome, including patients naïve to a hypomethylating (HMA) agent and those who were refractory to HMAs.