Articles
Although many patients with cancer have benefited from new drug discoveries over the last decade, a common side effect of these newly developed therapies may be inadvertent effects on the thyroid gland, according to a report published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Read More ›ADCETRIS™ (brentuximab vedotin), a new CD30-directed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on August 19, 2011, for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) after failure of autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) or after failure of at least 2 prior multiagent chemotherapy regimens. ADCETRIS is also indicated for the treatment of patients with systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) after failure of at least 1 prior multiagent chemotherapy regimen.1
Read More ›The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved denosumab (Prolia, Amgen) to increase bone mass in patients at high risk for fracture receiving androgen- deprivation therapy for nonmetastatic prostate cancer or adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy for breast cancer. This monoclonal antibody that binds to RANKL was approved based on results of 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. One trial randomized 1468 men with prostate cancer. Read More ›
I will admit that I am knowingly and willingly walking into a hornet’s nest by discussing the current drug shortage, but I feel I must. In addition to our (oncology pharmacists’) ruminations about the current drug shortage, the issue has garnered national media attention. Major newspapers, national TV networks, magazines, and numerous websites have jumped on the drug shortage story.
Read More ›Many cancer survivors who thought they were fertile now may be finding that is not the case. New research is suggesting that current estimates of the impact of chemotherapy on women’s reproductive health are too low.
Researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) say their analysis of the age-specific, longterm effects of chemotherapy provides new insights that will help patients and clinicians make more informed de cisions about future reproductive options, such as egg harvesting (Cancer. September 1, 2011. Epub ahead of print).
Read More ›In the September issue, we published an article entitled Patients Want to Discuss Cost of Cancer Care, Oncologists Often Avoid It. We wondered if patients were talking to their pharmacists about the cost of their oncology drugs.
Here’s how our online reading community responded:
- 14%indicated they are never asked about drug costs
- 48%said patients occasionally talk to them about drug costs
- 38% are regularly talking with patients about drug costs
WASHINGTON, DC—Psychosocial stress may play a role in the etiology of breast cancer aggressiveness, particularly among minority populations, according to study results. In a cross-sectional study, greater levels of fear, anxiety, or isolation were found to be associated with more aggressive breast cancer; however, no clear driver for the association is yet identified.
Read More ›The FDA issued a statement warning physicians of changes in the package insert for bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech) regarding newly identified risks.
Read More ›The FDA has granted 510k marketing clearance to an invitro diagnostic assay (NADiA ProsVue, Iris International) for determining rate of change of serum total prostate-specific antigen over a period of time. A slope of 3 assays is indicated for use as a prognostic marker in conjunction with clinical evaluation to aid in identifying those patients at reduced risk for recurrence of prostate cancer for the 8-year period following prostatectomy.
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