FDA Approves Belzutifan for von Hippel-Lindau Disease-Associted Tumors

On August 13, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved belzutifan, a hypoxia-inducible factor inhibitor, for adult patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease who require therapy for associated renal cell carcinoma, central nervous system hemangioblastomas, or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, not requiring immediate surgery.

Read the FDA announcement.

Read the Merck announcement.

Posted 8/16/2021

FDA Approves Levnatinib + Pembrolizumab for Advanced RCC

On August 10, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the combination of lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab for first-line treatment of adult patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Read the FDA announcement.

Read the Eisai announcement.

Posted 8/16/2021

FDA Approves Pembrolizumab for High-Risk, Early-Stage TNBC

On July 27, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab for the treatment of patients with 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.

Read Merck's announcement.

Posted 7/27/2021

FDA Approves Pembrolizumab + Lenvatinib for Advanced Endometrial Cancer

On July 22, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the combination of pembrolizumab plus lenvatinib for the treatment of patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma that is not microsatellite instability-high or mismatch repair deficient, who have disease progression following prior systemic therapy in any setting and who are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation. 

Read the FDA announcement.

Read the Merck announcement.

Read the Eisai Inc. announcement. 

Posted 7/22/2021

FDA Approves Expanded Indication for Pembrolizumab for cSCC

FDA Approves Sotorasib for KRAS G12C-Mutated NSCLC

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved sotorasib (LUMAKRAS^TM, Amgen) for the treatment of 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. Sotorasib has received accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in a confirmatory trial(s).

Read press release.

Posted on 6/1/2021

FDA Approves Nivolumab for Completely Resected Esophageal or GEJ Cancer

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

Positive Phase 3 Cemiplimab Results in Advanced Cervical Cancer

On Wednesday, May 12, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Sanofi announced the presentation of positive results from the Phase 3 trial investigating the PD-1 inhibitor cemiplimab (Libtayo^®) in patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer who had previously progressed on chemotherapy.

The data were shared as part of a European Society for Medical Oncology Virtual Plenary and add to previously reported data showing an improvement in overall survival (OS) with Libtayo compared to chemotherapy. The data will form the basis of regulatory submissions in 2021.

Read the press release.

Posted on 5/12/2021

FDA Approves Pembrolizumab for Esophageal or GEJ Carcinoma

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda^®, Merck) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic esophageal or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) (tumors with epicenter 1 to 5 centimeters above the GEJ) carcinoma that is not amenable to surgical resection or definitive chemoradiation in combination with platinum- and fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy.

Read the prescribing information and medication guide.

Posted on 4/30/2021

FDA Approves Nivolumab in Combination with Chemotherapy for Three Indications

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