Virginia Powers, PhD

Articles

BGB-3111 Plus Obinutuzumab Effective in CLL and Follicular Lymphoma

June 17th 2017

Combining the novel BTK inhibitor BGB-3111 with the CD-20 antibody obinutuzumab demonstrated clinical activity and was well tolerated in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic leukemia or follicular lymphoma.

BGB-3111 Induces Robust Response in Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia

June 16th 2017

BGB-3111, a highly specific BTK inhibitor, is active in patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia, according to an interim analysis from an ongoing phase I trial.

Avelumab Active in Hodgkin Lymphoma

June 16th 2017

Avelumab (Bavencio) demonstrated clinical activity and an acceptable safety and tolerability profile in heavily pretreated patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

Tazemetostat Active in Follicular Lymphoma, DLBCL

June 16th 2017

Tazemetostat (EPZ-6438) demonstrated strong clinical activity in patients with advanced EZH2-mutated follicular lymphoma, and was also active in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Pembrolizumab Active in Relapsed Mediastinal Large B-Cell Lymphoma

June 15th 2017

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) demonstrated antitumor activity in the majority of patients with recurrent/refractory primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma.

Axicabtagene Ciloleucel NHL Data Presented as FDA Weighs Approval

June 15th 2017

Patients with refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma lacking curative treatment options demonstrated high response rates and durable responses plus a manageable safety profile following treatment with axicabtagene ciloleucel.

Tisagenlecleucel-T Highly Active, With Durable Responses in DLBCL

June 14th 2017

Tisagenlecleucel-T (CTL019) met its primary endpoint for best objective response rate in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Mipsagargin Demonstrates Clinical Benefit in Patients With Advanced HCC

April 22nd 2017

The first-in-class prodrug, mipsagargin (G-202), showed promising antitumor activity and enabled patients with advanced sorafenib-refractory hepatocellular carcinoma to achieve disease stabilization.

SIRT Better-Tolerated Than Sorafenib in Advanced HCC

April 22nd 2017

Liver-targeting treatment with selective internal radiation therapy more effectively controlled liver tumor progression and was better tolerated in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, but the therapy did not improve rates of overall or progression-free survival over sorafenib.

Potential Biomarker for Survival Emerges in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

April 22nd 2017

Log10 alpha fetoprotein level in the blood directly corresponded to the months of posttreatment survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, independent of the type of treatment, regional differences, and disease etiology.

Nivolumab Provides Durable Responses in Sorafenib-Experienced HCC Patients

April 21st 2017

Sorafenib-experienced patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma had long-term responses to nivolumab of more than 1 year, according to findings from the CheckMate-040 trial.

DAA Therapy for Hepatitis C May Increase HCC Recurrence Risk

April 21st 2017

Spanish researchers raised a red flag regarding observations of unexpected higher rates of hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence following treatment with direct-acting antivirals for hepatitis C virus infection.

Independent Prognostic Markers of HCC Recurrence Identified

April 21st 2017

Higher levels of hepatocytes positive for pERK immunostaining and greater microvascular invasion have emerged as independent prognostic factors of recurrence in patients following sorafenib (Nexavar) treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma.

HCC Risk Comparable in Hepatitis C Patients Treated With DAA or Interferon

April 20th 2017

A meta-analysis found that patients were at no elevated risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma after achieving sustained virologic response following treatment with direct-acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis C compared to interferon therapy.

Neoadjuvant Therapy Fundamental in TNBC and HER2+ Breast Cancer

March 19th 2017

Neoadjuvant therapy in early breast cancer has evolved during the past 2 decades from use primarily in large inoperable tumors to a standard treatment option for patients with early-stage HER2-positive and triple-negative breast cancer.

Age, Subtype Impact Outcomes More Than Surgical Extent in Breast Cancer

March 18th 2017

Age and the molecular subtype were more closely associated with long-term outcomes compared with the use of either breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy for patients with breast cancer.

Expert Examines Clues to Deploying Immunotherapy in Breast Cancer

March 18th 2017

Immunotherapy will be most effective as a treatment for breast cancer when it is used to alter the tumor microenvironment, according to a careful examination of studies exploring the immune response presented by Nora Disis, MD.

Big Data May Guide Future Treatment Decisions

March 17th 2017

The paucity of patients participating in clinical trials makes data extrapolation and application complex, calling for a need to explore health technology solutions that tap the potential of real-world data.

Combination Approaches Combat Resistance to Endocrine Therapy in HR+ Breast Cancer

March 17th 2017

Genomic studies have made significant advancements in discovering methods to combat resistance to endocrine therapy in patients with hormone receptor (HR)–positive breast cancer over the past few years, according to Ian E. Krop, MD, PhD. Of particular interest are combination therapies blocking multiple driver pathways and resistance mechanisms.

Ribociclib Response Unaffected by Prior Treatment

March 17th 2017

Updated findings from the MONALEESA-2 trial demonstrated that the response to ribociclib (Kisqali) in postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor-positive/HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer was unaffected by either prior endocrine treatment or prior chemotherapy.