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Regimen Offers Safer Option for Some Older Multiple Myeloma Patients

A new drug regimen extended progression-free survival in older people with multiple myeloma without increasing their side effects, according to a study published in the Lancet Oncology. Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid commonly prescribed in combination with the immunomodulatory agent Revlimid (lenalidomide) for people with multiple myeloma. In recent years, doctors have also added the targeted therapy drug Darzalex (daratumumab) to this regimen, which has prolonged survival in these patients. However, the three-part combination also has increased the risk for infection and other toxicities, so oncologists sometimes omit Darzalex when treating older frail patients at high risk for side effects. In a phase III clinical trial, 295 people with multiple myeloma who were age 65 or older and frail were randomly assigned to receive either the standard treatment of Revlimid and ongoing dexamethasone or a regimen of Revlimid, Darzalex and just two cycles of dexamethasone, MedPage Today reported. People who received the new treatment had a median progression-free survival of 53.4 months, compared with 22.5 months for those who received standard care. Both groups had similar rates of side effects, including infection. The trial “supports the integration of a dexamethasone-sparing regimen into clinical practice for older patients with frailty and newly diagnosed multiple myeloma,” the study authors wrote.

Immunotherapy Maintenance Treatment Delays Skin Cancer Recurrence

The Food and Drug Administration approved the immunotherapy drug Libtayo (cemiplimab) as a post-surgery treatment for people with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC), a type of skin cancer, who have a high risk for recurrence. Patients can take Libtayo for 48 weeks after surgery or until cancer recurrence. The approval was based on results of a phase III clinical trial in which 415 people received either Libtayo or a placebo after having surgery and radiation for CSCC, Oncology News Central reported. After two years, 87.1% of people who received Libtayo were alive without disease, compared with 64.1% of those who received a placebo, according to results published May 31, 2025, in the New England Journal of Medicine. Before this approval, only people with advanced CSCC who were ineligible for surgery or radiation could receive immunotherapy, according to Vishal A. Patel, a trial investigator and a cutaneous oncologist at GW Cancer Center in Washington, D.C. Among those who had surgery, people whose cancer showed high-risk features had limited options to reduce their risk for recurrence, according to Patel. “As the first and only immunotherapy approved in the adjuvant setting, Libtayo represents a practice-changing opportunity for this patient population, backed by compelling data showcasing its ability to significantly improve disease-free survival,” Patel said in a press release.

Medicaid Expansion Linked to Improved Cancer Survival in Rural Areas

People with cancer living in rural areas of states that expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act had better survival outcomes than similar people in states without expanded coverage, according to a study published in Cancer Discovery. In the study, researchers analyzed cancer registry data for people diagnosed with cancer between 2007 and 2008 or 2014 and 2015 in 26 states that had expanded Medicaid coverage and 12 states that had not expanded coverage as of 2020. In total, 1.42 million cancer cases were included in the analysis. Between the two time periods, five-year cancer-specific survival increased by about 2 percentage points in both expansion and non-expansion states. However, researchers observed a significant difference when looking at outcomes for people in rural communities. People with cancer living in rural areas of Medicaid expansion states had their likelihood of living for five years improve by 2.55 percentage points more than those living in rural areas in non-expansion states. The Affordable Care Act, which went into effect in 2014, allowed states to expand Medicaid eligibility to people with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level, MedPage Today reported. To date, 40 states have expanded Medicaid eligibility. Previous research found expanded Medicaid eligibility is associated with better insurance coverage, increased cancer screenings and more early-stage diagnoses, MedPage Today reported. “Insurance coverage plays a crucial role in enhancing cancer outcomes by enabling timely access to diagnostic and treatment services,” Elizabeth J. Schafer, a study author and a cancer prevention researcher with the American Cancer Society, told MedPage Today.