Targeted Therapy Expands Treatment Options for Advanced Breast Cancer

On July 14, 2026, the Food and Drug Administration approved the targeted drug Revtorpyk (gedatolisib) along with fulvestrant, either with or without Ibrance (palbociclib), for people with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer without a PIK3CA mutation. The indication is for people whose disease progressed during or after at least one line of endocrine therapy in the metastatic setting. Most treatment options for advanced breast cancer that have been approved in this setting have targeted single components of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR (PAM) pathway. However, Revtorpyk blocks PI3K and mTOR together, which suppresses the broader PAM pathway, Medscape reported. Results from the phase III randomized controlled clinical trial leading to the approval, published March 9, 2026, in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, included 392 patients. In the study, people taking Revtorpyk, Ibrance and fulvestrant lived a median of 9.3 months without their cancer progressing, compared with two months for those who received fulvestrant alone. With Revtorpyk and fulvestrant without Ibrance, the median time to progression was 7.4 months. In the clinical trial, 69.2% of patients receiving Revtorpyk, Ibrance and fulvestrant, experienced stomatitis, a side effect marked by painful mouth sores and inflammation in the lining of the mouth and throat. In those receiving the triplet, 19.2% of people experienced stomatitis severe enough to interrupt daily activities and require medical attention. The drug approval comes with guidance for patients to rinse with a steroid-containing, alcohol-free mouthwash before and while undergoing treatment to reduce this effect. Although the approval is limited to tumors without the mutation, emerging evidence suggests that Revtorpyk can extend progression-free survival whether the patient’s tumor has a PIK3CA mutation or not, according to Sara Hurvitz, a medical oncologist and researcher at Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Seattle, who led the study. “That makes it quite unique,” Hurvitz said in an article published on Fred Hutch’s website. “We only have one other drug that targets this pathway (everolimus, which inhibits mTOR) that doesn’t require that mutation for efficacy.” Overall survival data is not yet mature.

FDA Expands Padcev-Keytruda for Muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer

On July 10, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded approval of Padcev (enfortumab vedotin) with either intravenous Keytruda (pembrolizumab) or Keytruda Qlex, a subcutaneous formulation, for adults with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who are candidates for cystectomy, regardless of whether they are eligible for cisplatin chemotherapy. This regimen is administered before and after surgery and has been previously approved in this setting for patients who could not receive cisplatin, Medscape reported. In the phase III clinical trial, 808 previously untreated, cisplatin-eligible patients received either Padcev-Keytruda before and after surgery or gemcitabine and cisplatin before surgery. Two years after being assigned to a treatment, an estimated 79.4% of patients who received the Padcev-Keytruda combination were alive without recurrence, progression or another event, compared with 66.2% of those who received gemcitabine and cisplatin before surgery. “By delivering this regimen across both the neoadjuvant and adjuvant phases, without platinum-based chemotherapy, we can significantly reduce the risk of recurrence and improve overall survival,” Christopher Hoimes, a study author and medical oncologist at Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, North Carolina, said in a news release. The study also noted that 75.7% of patients receiving Padcev and Keytruda experienced side effects requiring medical attention compared with 67.2% receiving chemotherapy.

Federal Funding Changes Have Disrupted Cancer Disparities Research

An online survey distributed to approximately 1,800 individuals who attended the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on The Science of Health Disparities between 2020 and 2025 provides a snapshot of how recent federal policy changes have affected cancer disparities researchers. Among the 119 current cancer disparities researchers included in the analysis, 93% said federal policy changes had affected their work, 78% had been unable to apply for funding, 59% reported disruptions to ongoing projects and 54% had lost all or part of a grant. Of those who lost funding, 59% of respondents reported funding losses from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The survey was published June 24 as part of the AACR Cancer Disparities Report 2026. (The AACR also publishes Cancer Today.) A separate JAMA Oncology analysis published Nov. 26, 2025, found that the federal government terminated 181 National Cancer Institute grants representing more than $640 million in total awards in early 2025, leaving an estimated $317 million in unspent research funds. “Many medical trials were stopped in the middle—meaning those patients suddenly didn’t receive the treatments they were getting, because the funding stopped,” Mariana Stern, a cancer epidemiologist at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles who chaired the AACR report committee, told NPR. Researchers in the article warned that prolonged disruptions could slow efforts to address persistent disparities, although the NIH said the National Cancer Institute continues to consider cancer disparities research a priority.