Atezolizumab (Tecentriq – Genentech), an immune checkpoint inhibitor, has been approved by the FDA for treatment of unresectable or metastatic alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) in patients ≥2 years old. It was previously approved for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer, hepatocellular cancer, and melanoma (see Table 1). Atezolizumab is the first drug to be approved in the US for treatment of ASPS. ASPS is a rare disorder that affects mostly adolescents and young adults; <1% of soft tissue sarcomas are ASPS.

Sotorasib (Lumakras — Amgen), an oral KRAS inhibitor, has received accelerated approval by the FDA for treatment of KRAS G12C-mutated locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in adults who received at least one prior systemic therapy. Accelerated approval was based on the overall response rate and duration of response. KRAS mutations are found in 25-30% of non-squamous-cell NSCLC cases and the G12C mutation is the most common KRAS mutation. Sotorasib is the first KRAS inhibitor to be approved in the US.

Adagrasib (Krazati – Mirati Therapeutics), a RAS GTPase family inhibitor, has received accelerated approval from the FDA for oral treatment of KRAS G12C-mutated locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in adults who received at least one prior systemic therapy. Accelerated approval was based on the objective response rate and duration of response.

Human alpha1-proteinase inhibitor (Prolastin Cutter), possibly better known as alpha1-antitypsin (ATT), is now available in the USA for replacement therapy in patients with emphysema who have a congential deficiency of the protein.

The FDA has granted regular approval to the oral kinase inhibitor capmatinib (Tabrecta – Novartis) for treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in adults whose tumors have a mutation that leads to mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) exon 14 skipping. MET exon 14 skipping mutations occur in 3-4% of NSCLC cases. The drug received accelerated approval for the same indication in 2020 based on initial overall response rates and duration of response.

Use of screening tests to identify cancers before they cause symptoms can lead to earlier therapy and may improve outcomes. Screening tests for some common cancers are reviewed below.

The results of the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) have now been published. The primary purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin and the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in reducing the risk of developing advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD). A secondary goal was to test the effects of reducing the amount of zinc and eliminating beta carotene from the original AREDS formulation. Beta carotene has been shown to increase the risk of...

Zenocutuzumab (Bizengri – Merus), a bispecific HER2- and HER3-directed antibody, has received accelerated approval from the FDA for treatment of advanced, unresectable or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or pancreatic adenocarcinoma harboring a neuregulin 1 (NRG1) gene fusion in adults who had disease progression on or after prior systemic therapy. It is the first drug to be approved in the US for treatment of NRG1-positive cancers. Accelerated approval of zenocutuzumab was based on the overall response rate and duration of response.

The FDA has approved tremelimumab-actl (Imjudo – AstraZeneca), a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) blocking antibody, for use in combination with the programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) blocking antibody durvalumab (Imfinzi) and platinum-based chemotherapy for treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in adults with no sensitizing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations or anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) genomic tumor aberrations.

The FDA has approved cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo – Regeneron), an immune checkpoint inhibitor, for use in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy for first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in adults with no epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), or ROS1 aberrations and who are not candidates for surgical resection or chemoradiation. The drug was previously approved for first-line treatment of NSCLC in patients whose tumors have high PD-L1 expression and no genomic tumor aberrations....