Novel treatment allowed patients with colorectal cancer to successfully continue taking their cancer treatment with improved quality of life. Acne-like skin rash is a common side effect from colorectal cancer treatment, often causing patients to postpone their treatments. LUT014, a topical BRAF inhibitor made by Lutris Pharma, is the first agent to treat the cause of the rash without interfering with the treatment itself. Over two-thirds of patients had successful treatment with the higher dose of LUT014 compared to one-third with placebo.

Combining Lynparza (olaparib) and Keytruda (pembrolizumab) showed antitumor activity in multiple cancer types, particularly those with BRCA1/2 mutations. In this combination trial patients were matched by genetic features, not tumor type – a tumor-agnostic, molecularly matched trial that included 30 different cancer types. Prior studies indicated potential for synergy between these two therapies, and this study verified this in multiple advanced solid tumors, especially in certain subsets of patients. Combination demonstrated complete responses and partial responses in different cancer types, including those beyond the currently approved indications for these therapies.

Patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer who received the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab before, during and after standard-of-care surgery had longer event-free survival without the cancer coming back and higher rates of substantial tumor shrinkage prior to surgery, according to the first interim analysis of a randomized, open-label phase 3 clinical trial led by investigators from Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.