The European Commission has granted conditional marketing authorization for the use of GlaxoSmithKline’s anti-B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) therapy belantamab mafodotin (Blenrep®) as monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least four prior therapies and whose disease is refractory to at least one proteasome inhibitor, one immunomodulatory agent, and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, and who have demonstrated disease progression on the last therapy.

The treatment landscape for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), once considered a graveyard for drug development, has undergone a rapid evolution in the last three years, signaled by the approval of eight new drugs and the start of nearly 200 industry-sponsored clinical trials, many of them for combination therapies. While I believe these developments will ultimately lead to a brighter future for the treatment of AML, they have created a period of uncertainty in which physicians and industry leaders are figuring out how best to develop and use these therapies alone and in combination, and in which patients.

A cancer diagnosis can be daunting. But what if the cancer diagnosis involves an extremely rare form of cancer – and the diagnosis is made during a pandemic?

One patient lived through this harrowing experience.

Stunning progress in the development of novel treatment options for patients with cancer and hematological malignancies, made over the last decade, leading to nearly 17 million cancer survivors, is a testament to the success of collaborative research and an improved understanding of cancer and cancer biology.

However, these advances are, unfortunately, out of reach for many Americans.