(AstraZeneca) Mar 30, 2020 - AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi (durvalumab) has been approved in the US as a 1st-line treatment for adult patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) in combination with standard-of-care (SoC) chemotherapies, etoposide plus either carboplatin or cisplatin (platinum-etoposide). The approval by the Food and Drug Administration was based on positive results from the Phase III CASPIAN trial showing Imfinzi in combination with SoC platinum-etoposide demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival (OS) versus SoC alone.

H. Jack West, MD (Posted: March 30, 2020)

This provides another option that is pretty much a lateral move compared to atezolizumab with chemo in the IMpower133 trial. Both efficacy and tolerability data appear very similar. One modest difference is that the CASPIAN trial gave durvalumab with a chemo regimen of either cisplatin or carboplatin along with etoposide, while the IMpower133 chemo backbone was carbo/etoposide only. Accordingly, for those who routinely favor a cisplatin-containing regimen in extensive SCLC, the FDA approval of the CASPIAN regimen may resonate more for them.

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(MedPage Today) Mar 25, 2020 - While having an unprecedented impact on all aspects of the nation's healthcare system, the COVID-19 pandemic created unique circumstances and challenges for cancer care, according to authors of a review from the early U.S. epicenter in metropolitan Seattle. The first confirmed U.S. case of COVID-19 was reported on Jan. 20 in Snohomish County, about an hour north of Seattle. The first COVID-19 death in the country occurred there, as well.

Howard S. Hochster, MD (Posted: March 26, 2020)

There is no question that SARS-CoV-2 will prove to be a major challenge to all health care providers in the coming weeks. At the Rutgers Cancer Institute of NJ we have moved aggressively to reduce staff and patient exposure by seeing as many follow up visits by Telemedicine video chats. We are calling to pre-screen every patient coming in for possible symptoms or exposure, and screening again at the front door. However, we continue to treat all patients on active therapy at this time as "essential services". We are continuing cancer surgery at this time in the same way. At the moment we are prioritizing patients with cancer diagnosis for treatment as usual, and will continue to do so as long as we have the resources.

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(Washington Post) Mar 23, 2020 - President Trump has been promoting chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, as “a game changer” in combating the coronavirus, perhaps in combination with the antibiotic Azithromycin. “As the expression goes, ‘What do we have to lose?’ ” Trump asked during Saturday’s media briefing.

Ronald Yanagihara (Posted: March 24, 2020)

Should it not be relatively easy to document how many patients who died of covid19 respiratory failure also happened to have been on chronic hydroxychloroquine for SLE, etc?

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