Noted

Women with BRCA -mutant advanced triple-negative breast cancer are twice as likely to respond to carboplatin as docetaxel (Nat Med 2018;24:628–37). In the phase III TNT trial, women with BRCA gene faults who were treated with carboplatin had an objective response rate (ORR) of 68%, compared with 33% in those treated with docetaxel. This difference was not present when researchers analyzed ORR across the entire trial population.

Eli Lilly is buying ARMO Biosciences for $1.6 billion. ARMO Biosciences specializes in immuno-oncology drugs. Its leading candidate is pegilodecakin, a PEGylated form of IL10 under study in a phase III trial in pancreatic cancer, as well as earlier-stage trials in other solid tumor types, including melanoma and lung and renal cancers.

In the United States, only 1.9% of more than 7 million current and former heavy smokers were screened for lung cancer in 2016 (J Clin Oncol 2018;36, no. 15_suppl:6504). Researchers analyzed data from the 2016 American College of Radiology's Lung Cancer Screening Registry, which tracked screening at 1,796 sites throughout the country. Screening rates were highest in the Northeast (3.5%) and lowest in the West (1%).

Men and women may have different responses to immunotherapies (Lancet Oncol 2018;19:737–46). Researchers analyzed 20 trials involving 11,351 patients with advanced cancers who were treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. They found that although the drugs improved overall survival in both men and women, the efficacy of the drugs, on average, was significantly better in men.

President Donald Trump signed “right-to-try” legislation that allows terminally ill patients to seek experimental drugs directly from pharmaceutical companies. Previously, patients could apply to the FDA for access via a process called expanded access or compassionate use, which approved 99.5% of requests between 2009 and 2014.

For more news on cancer research, visit Cancer Discovery online at http://cancerdiscovery.aacrjournals.org/CDNews.