North America is facing a shortage of certain drugs, and you do not have to be a pharmacist buyer tasked with procurement to realize our drug supply is under pressure. Governmental and professional groups—including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), Association of Community Cancer Center, and American Pharmacists Associ ation, among others—have been stating that this is a serious problem that may not be resolved anytime soon.

The development of ipilimumab (Yervoy) and its approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2011 have opened a new era in the treatment and management of patients with metastatic melanoma. The continued innovation in cancer drug development has been focused on a different mechanism of action that engages the patient’s own immune system in attacking malignancy in contrast to the more traditional myelosuppressive drugs that have been used in the past half century to kill rapidly dividing cancer cells.

Previously, between 15% and 30% of patients treated with BRAF inhibitors developed cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, which had to be removed surgically. Now, scientists have determined how to prevent these new cancers from occurring when patients with malignant melanoma are treated with BRAF inhibitors.

The study by researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) was published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A national fast track system for cancer patients that was implemented in Denmark reduced the time between a patient’s initial meeting with a healthcare provider and their first treatment by 4 weeks, according to a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.

A recent study shows that the administration of a short vaccination regimen with an anti-HER2 dendritic cell vaccine consisting partly of their own cells led to complete tumor destruction in nearly 20% of women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Moreover, more than 85% of women treated appeared to develop a long-lasting immune response following vaccination, which may reduce the risk of a more invasive cancer forming in the future.

The recent drop in melanoma mortality rates among non-Hispanic whites in the US is found among those patients with higher levels of education, according to a new study from the American Cancer Society. These findings show that early detection strategies intended for high-risk, low-educated, non-Hispanic white individuals are needed, study authors say.

In general, melanoma mortality rates among non-Hispanic whites (aged 25 to 64 years) have been declining in men and women since the early 1990s. However, death rates according to socioeconomic status (SES) have been unknown.

Early detection is a key to better outcomes for colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

According to 2 recent studies, a new investigational colorectal cancer screening test is highly sensitive and more accurate at detecting adenomas and early-stage cancer compared with other noninvasive tests.

Current shortages of injectable cancer medications present an opportunity for the introduction of non–Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved products into the US drug supply. This could result in serious harm to patients.

To help meet the distinct healthcare requirements of children and adolescents, America’s biopharmaceutical companies are currently researching 282 medicines, according to a new report recently released by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

The importance of creating social and physical environments that support healthy behaviors is central to the updated nutrition and physical activity guidelines for cancer prevention from the American Cancer Society (ACS). The report includes updated advice for personal diet and physical activity patterns, but it emphasizes that the community in which those choices are made can either facilitate or impede healthy behaviors.

With the addition of everolimus (Afinitor^®) to exemestane, postmenopausal women whose advanced breast cancer no longer responded to hormonal therapy lived approximately 4 months longer without disease progression compared with women who received exemestane alone.

A Cedars-Sinai study found that chemicals in the skins and seeds of red grapes decreased estrogen levels slightly while increasing testosterone among premenopausal women who drank 8 ounces of red wine nightly for about a month.

The study, published online in the Journal of Women’s Health, challenges the widely held belief among doctors that all alcohol increases estrogen levels, thus nurturing the growth of cancer cells.