Brain Metastases News and Research

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FDA approves LORBRENA for treatment of patients with ALK-positive metastatic NSCLC

Pfizer Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved LORBRENA, a third-generation anaplastic lymphoma kinase tyrosine kinase inhibitor for patients with ALK-positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer whose disease has progressed on crizotinib and at least one other ALK inhibitor for metastatic disease; or whose disease has progressed on alectinib or ceritinib as the first ALK inhibitor therapy for metastatic disease.

5 Nov 2018

New City of Hope CAR T cell trial focuses on HER2-positive breast cancer patients with brain metastases

Women with HER2-positive breast cancer that has spread to the brain need more treatment options, and City of Hope and Mustang Bio Inc. are meeting that challenge.

30 Oct 2018

Hippocampal avoidance during whole-brain radiotherapy reduces risk of cognitive decline

Whole-brain radiotherapy can be delivered more safely to patients with brain metastases by avoiding the hippocampus according to a randomized phase III NRG Oncology trial presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting.

23 Oct 2018

Takeda announces positive Phase 3 ALTA-1L data in first-line therapy for advanced ALK+ NSCLC

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited today announced that intracranial efficacy data from the Phase 3 ALTA-1L (ALK in Lung Cancer Trial of BrigAtinib in 1st Line) trial showed improved intracranial progression-free survival (PFS) and intracranial objective response rate (ORR) with ALUNBRIG (brigatinib) compared to crizotinib among anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive (ALK+) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

22 Oct 2018

Brigatinib drug may offer first-line treatment option for ALK-positive NSCLC

Results of a 275-patient, multi-national phase III clinical trial known as ALTA-1L published today in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented concurrently in the press program at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) World Conference on Lung Cancer 2018 argue for brigatinib as a first-line treatment option for advanced ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer.

26 Sep 2018

Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials of entrectinib drug in ROS1-positive NSCLC show promising results

Results of phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials of the drug entrectinib in ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer presented on the press program of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer show a response rate of 77.4 percent for 53 patients evaluable for response, with median duration of response of 24.6 months.

25 Sep 2018

Immunotherapy combination shrinks melanoma that has spread to the brain

Combination immunotherapy shrank melanoma that has spread to the brain in more than half of the patients in a clinical trial reported in the New England Journal of Medicine led by an investigator at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

23 Aug 2018

Immunotherapies may increase overall survival in patients with melanoma brain metastases

Among patients with cutaneous melanoma who had brain metastases (MBM), first-line treatment with a checkpoint inhibitor was associated with a 1.4-fold increase in median overall survival, according to results from a national cohort.

13 Jul 2018

Clinical trial results of tucatinib with T-DM1 shows promise in treating HER2+ breast cancer

Phase 1b clinical trial results published in JAMA Oncology show promise for the combination of tucatinib with T-DM1 against heavily pretreated HER2-positive breast cancer.

11 Jul 2018

Study explores occurrence and treatment of brain metastases in ROS1 lung cancer

Increasingly, doctors are treating lung cancer based on the genetic rearrangements driving the disease. For example, cancers that are driven by changes in the genes ALK, EGFR, and ROS1 can now all be paired with drugs that target these specific changes.

10 Jul 2018

New treatment regimen boosts survival for young adults and children with T-cell malignancies

In a federally funded, randomized phase III clinical trial performed by the Children's Oncology Group (COG), 90% of children and young adults with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) or T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LL) were alive four years after starting treatment regimens on this trial, and 84% were cancer free.

17 May 2018

Researchers clarify immune response for patients with breast cancer brain metastases

Once it has begun to spread in the body, approximately half of patients with an aggressive breast cancer type will develop cancer in the brain. Researchers at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center want to improve treatment for patients with breast cancer brain metastases, but using the body's existing defenses - the immune system.

18 Apr 2018

Study challenges use of whole-brain radiation for small-cell lung cancer patients with brain metastases

Lung cancer often metastasizes to the brain. Historically, brain metastases have been treated with whole-brain radiation therapy.

17 Apr 2018

Researchers find investigational compound to treat triple negative breast cancer after brain metastasis

Researchers at Houston Methodist used computer modeling to find an existing investigational drug compound for leukemia patients to treat triple negative breast cancer once it spreads to the brain.

22 Mar 2018

Scientists discover rare childhood liver cancer's ability to metastasize to the brain

A surprising finding by Rockefeller University scientists about a rare liver cancer's behavior could lead to more comprehensive patient monitoring and hopefully better outcomes.

19 Mar 2018

Simple tool can help doctors estimate survival for patients with long bone metastases

A simple three-factor tool can help doctors estimate survival time in patients with long bone metastases (LBMs)- advanced cancer that has spread to the bones of the limbs, reports a study in the February 7, 2018, issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.

9 Feb 2018

Pretreatment improves outcomes in high-risk stage 3 melanoma, study shows

A pair of targeted therapies given before and after surgery for melanoma produced at least a six-fold increase in time to progression compared to standard-of-care surgery for patients with stage 3 disease, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in Lancet Oncology.

18 Jan 2018

Experts report new guidelines for clinical trial design in patients with brain metastases

Clinical trials of new anti-cancer therapies have often excluded patients whose disease has spread to the brain or central nervous system (CNS) or, if such patients were allowed on trial, trials have often failed to clearly capture information on the drug's effect in the brain.

30 Dec 2017

Study explores use of radiosurgery in lung cancer patients with multiple brain metastases

Although targeted therapies have produced dramatic advances in our ability to control some types of advanced lung cancer, growth of the disease in the brain remains a major problem.

19 Dec 2017

Study finds racial, socioeconomic barriers to accessing life-saving treatment for metastatic cancer

Increasing use of a potentially life-saving treatment for metastatic cancer is leaving too many vulnerable patients behind, according to a new study from Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital published in JNCCN – Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.