July 1, 2021
On June 30, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved asparaginase erwinia chrysanthemi (recombinant)-rywn as a component of a multi-agent chemotherapy regimen for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL) in adult and pediatric patients who are allergic to the E. coli-derived asparaginase products used most commonly for treatment.
Read the FDA announcement .
Read the Jazz Pharmaceuticals announcement .
Posted 7/1/2021
June 25, 2021
On June 24, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued drafted guidance that encourages the inclusion the patients with incurable cancers in clinical trials, regardless of their treatment history. When finalized, the FDA's guidance will "provide recommendations to sponsors designing clinical trials of drug and biological products to expand eligibility to patients with incurable cancers."
It will also provide guidance on how to address patients who have not received prior therapies, such as using separate cohorts.
Read the full FDA draft guidance for sponsors .
Posted 6/25/2021
June 17, 2021
On June 16, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved avapritinib for the treatment of adult patients with advanced systemic mastocytosis (SM), including aggressive SM, SM with an associated hematological neoplasm, and mast cell leukemia.
Read the FDA announcement .
Read Blueprint Medicines' announcement .
Posted 06/17/2021
June 1, 2021
On May 28, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to infigratinib for adults with previously treated, unresectable locally advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma with a fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) fusion or other rearrangement as detected by an FDA-approved test.
Read the FDA announcement .
Read the QED Therapeutics announcement .
Posted 6/1/2021
June 1, 2021
On May 28, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Guardant360 ® CDx test for tumor mutation profiling or comprehensive genomic profiling to identify patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who harbor the KRAS G12C mutation and may benefit from Lumakras™ (sotorasib), an FDA-approved KRASG12C inhibitor developed and manufactured by Amgen.
Read the Guardant Health announcement .
Posted 6/1/2021
June 1, 2021
On May 28, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to sotorasib for adult patients with KRAS G12C mutated locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as determined by an FDA approved test, who have received at least one prior systemic therapy.
Read the FDA announcement .
Read the Amgen announcement .
Posted 6/1/2021
May 24, 2021
On May 21, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Guardant360 ® CDx liquid biopsy test as the first and only companion diagnostic for amivantamab-vmjw.
The Guardant360 CDx test will be used for tumor mutation profiling or comprehensive genomic profiling to identify patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer who harbor the EGFR exon 20 insertion mutation and may benefit from targeted treatment with amivantamab-vmjw after progressing on or after platinum-based chemotherapy.
Read Guardant Health's announcement .
Posted 5/24/2021
May 21, 2021
On May 21, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mivantamab-vmjw as the first treatment for adult patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have specific types of genetic mutations: epidermal growth factor receptor exon 20 insertion mutations.
Read the FDA announcement .
Posted 5/21/2021
May 20, 2021
On May 20, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab for patients with completely resected esophageal or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer with residual pathologic disease who have received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.
Read the FDA announcement .
Read the Bristol Myers Squibb announcement .
Posted 5/21/2021
May 18, 2021
On May 18, 2021, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released its updated guidelines on colorectal cancer screening. The Task Force now recommends screening for colorectal cancer for all adults aged 45 years and older.
Recommendations made by the USPSTF are independent of the U.S. government.
Read the full updated guidelines .
Posted 5/18/2021.
May 6, 2021
On May 5, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab in combination with trastuzumab, fluoropyrimidine-, and platinum-containing chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2 positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.
April 26, 2021
On April 23, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to loncastuximab tesirine-lpyl for adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) after two or more lines of systemic therapy, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) not otherwise specified, DLBCL arising from low grade lymphoma, and high-grade B-cell lymphoma.
Read the FDA announcement .
Read ADC Therapeutics announcement .
Posted 4/26/2021
April 19, 2021
On April 19, 2021, Amgen announced its launch of Biomarker Assist TM —a program to help patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) gain access to biomarker testing. Through this new program, eligible patients may save on costs related to biomarker testing.
Learn more about Biomarker Assist TM on its website .
Read the Amgen announcement .
Posted 4/19/2021
April 16, 2021
On April 16, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab in combination with certain types of chemotherapy for the initial treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer, and esophageal adenocarcinoma. This is the first FDA-approved immunotherapy for the first-line treatment of gastric cancer.
Read the FDA announcement .
Read the BMS announcement .
Posted 4/16/2021
April 14, 2021
On April 13, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to sacituzumab govitecan-hziy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who previously received a platinum-containing chemotherapy and either a programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) or a programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor.
Read the FDA announcement .
Read the Gilead Sciences announcement .
Posted 4/14/2021
April 8, 2021
On April 7, 2021 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to sacituzumab govitecan-hziy for patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who have received two or more prior systemic therapies, at least one of them for metastatic disease.
Read the FDA announcement .
Read the Gilead Sciences announcement .
Posted 4/8/2021
April 7, 2021
On March 30, 2021, the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) Leadership Council released key reasons why cancer care teams should be protected and thoughtful investment strategies for cancer programs and practices to help remain strong as they recover from the pandemic. After closely reviewing the pandemic's impact on cancer care delivery in 2020, the Leadership Council devised key reasoning for protecting the cancer care team and service line:
"With new testing and mitigation strategies being implemented and improved access to vaccines on the horizon, now is the time to proactively plan for the near future. With proper and realistic planning, members of the cancer care team can be well-positioned to serve their patients with cancer and their families as the pandemic begins to subside."
The AONN+ Leadership Council is led by Christian Downs, executive director of the Association of Cancer Care Centers, with support from Linda Fleisher, principal investigator at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Lillie Shockney, co-founder of AONN+, Rani Khetarpal, vice president of Provider Partnerships at New Century Health, and Mandi Pratt-Chapman, associate center director of Patient-Centered Initiatives and Health Equity at George Washington Cancer Center.
For more information on the Leadership Councils' tips for a strong cancer care team post-pandemic, read the full announcement .
Posted 4/7/2021
April 6, 2021
On October 13, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted miR Scientific's miR Sentinel™ PCC4 Assay (miR Sentinel™ Prostate Test) breakthrough device designation. The miR Sentinel™ Prostate Test is a new method to analyze small non-coding RNAs from a non-invasive urine specimen from age-eligible men.
Read the company's announcement .
Posted 4/6/2021
April 5, 2021
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released six new billing codes for oncology-related products. These codes start April 1, 2021. The products, their associated codes, billing units, and Medicare payment limits are:
Posted 4/5/2021
April 1, 2021
On March 31, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved isatuximab in combination with carfilzomib and dexamethasone for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) multiple myeloma who have received one to three prior lines of therapy.
Read the FDA announcement .
Read the Sanofi announcement .
Posted 4/1/2021
April 1, 2021
On March 31, 2021 Eisai Inc. and advocacy leaders announced that they have teamed up to launch Spot Her , an initiative to end the silence around endometrial cancer and inspire women to listen, advocate, and put their health and the health of other women first, including helping women spot the signs of early endometrial cancer.The Spot Her initiative aims to embrace the power of every woman’s voice to take a stand on this important women’s health issue by providing support through education, resources, and strength through community.
For more information on this initiative, visit Spot Her .
Posted 4/1/2021
March 31, 2021
On March 30, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the revised label for daunorubicin and cytarabine to include a new indication to treat newly-diagnosed therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia or acute myeloid leukemia with myelodysplasia-related changes in pediatric patients aged one year and older.
Read the Jazz Pharmaceuticals announcement .
Posted 3/31/2021
March 29, 2021
On March 26, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved idecabtagene vicleucel as the first B-cell maturation antigen directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) multiple myeloma after four or more prior lines of therapy, including an immunomodulatory agent, a proteasome inhibitor, and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody.
Read the FDA announcement .
Read the Bristol Myers Squibb announcement .
Read the bluebird bio, Inc. announcement .
Posted 3/29/21
March 24, 2021
On March 23, 2021, Bayer announced that it is collaborating with NeoGenomics, Tempus, and Veracyte to sponsor genomic cancer testing for actionable alterations, including NTRK gene fusions. These programs are available to eligible patients at no cost. Bayer will cover the full cost of the test regardless of the results, patient’s insurance coverage, and resulting treatment decision.
Eligibility includes patients with RAI-refractory differentiated thyroid carcinoma and metastatic colorectal cancer with high microsatellite instability.
Enrollment for the the programs is available for a limited time, and these genomic testing programs include:
Visit each program's website for more information.
Posted 3/24/2021