Bexarotene, a retinoid analog, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for oral treatment of dermatologic manifestations of refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

The FDA has approved 2 new treatments for castration-resistant (formerly called hormone-refractory) prostate cancer. Sipuleucel-T (Provenge – Dendreon) is the first immunotherapy approved for treatment of prostate cancer. Cabazitaxel (Jevtana – Sanofi-Aventis) is approved for second-line treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer previously treated with docetaxel (Taxotere).

The oral cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor ribociclib (Kisqali – Novartis) has been approved by the FDA for use in combination with an aromatase inhibitor for first-line endocrine-based therapy in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Ribociclib is also available copackaged with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole (Femara, and generics) as Kisqali Femara Co-Pack. Ribociclib is the second CDK 4/6 inhibitor to be approved in the US for this indication;...

Fulvestrant (Faslodex -- AstraZeneca), an estrogen receptor antagonist given intramuscularly (IM) once a month, was recently approved by the FDA for treatment of hormone-receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer in postmenopausal women with disease progession on tamoxifen (Nolvadex, and others) or another antiestrogen.

The FDA has approved idelalisib (Zydelig – Gilead), an oral kinase inhibitor, for use in combination with rituximab (Rituxan) for treatment of relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). It is also approved as monotherapy for treatment of relapsed follicular lymphoma and relapsed small lymphocytic lymphoma (both are subtypes of indolent non-Hodgkins lymphoma) in patients who have received at least two prior systemic therapies.

The anthracycline doxorubicin with or without the alkylating agent ifosfamide is the standard first-line treatment for advanced soft-tissue sarcomas. The FDA recently approved the minor groove DNA intercalator trabectedin (Yondelis – Janssen) for treatment of unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma in patients previously treated with an anthracycline. Trabectedin has been available for years in Europe for treatment of advanced soft-tissue sarcoma. The FDA has also approved the microtubule inhibitor eribulin mesylate (Halaven – Eisai), which was approved earlier for...

The FDA recently approved ixazomib (Ninlaro – Takeda), daratumumab (Darzalex – Janssen Biotech), and elotuzumab (Empliciti – BMS) for treatment of relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma.

Men with primary or secondary hypogonadism require lifelong androgen replacement to prevent osteoporosis and maintain normal muscle mass, erythropoiesis and sexual function (AM Matsumoto, Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am, 23:857, 1994). Until recently, the standard treatment for male hypogonadism has been an intramuscular injection of a long-acting testosterone ester every two to three weeks, which leads to serum testosterone concentrations that are high for a few days, normal for a few days more, and then may be subnormal until the next dose. Two transdermal preparations of testosterone...

A live attenuated varicella-zoster vaccine (Zostavax - Merck) has been approved by the FDA for prevention of herpes zoster (HZ; zoster; shingles) in persons ≥60 years old. Each dose of Zostavax contains about 14 times as much varicella-zoster virus (VZV) as Varivax, which has been used in the US since 1995 to vaccinate against varicella (chicken pox).

Ofloxacin (Floxin - McNeil, Ortho), a new fluoroquinolone antibacterial agent, was recently marketed in the USA for oral treatment of various infections caused by susceptible microorganisms. Ofloxacin is the third fluoroquinolone to become available in this country. Norfloxacin (Noroxin - Medical Letter, 29:25, 1987) is marketed only for treatment of urinary tract infections. Ciprofloxacin (Cipro - Medical Letter, 30:11, 1988), like ofloxacin, is approved for use in a variety of infections.