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Patients with inoperable metastatic melanoma now have another treatment option as ipilimumab becomes the second immunotherapy drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of cancer. Fortunately for clinicians, ipilimumab also has a new, easier-to-pronounce name–Yervoy. Specifically, Yervoy is indicated for patients with unresectable metastatic melanoma that is newly diagnosed or continues to progress despite prior therapy.
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A phase III trial investigating ruxolitinib found the oral drug effective at reducing spleen swelling in patients with myelofibrosis, a rare hematologic cancer. Ruxolitinib is an inhibitor of Janus kinases (JAKs) 1 and 2 and interleukin (IL)-6 signaling. Incyte Corporation and Novartis are collaborating on development of ruxolitinib and have announced plans to apply for regulatory approval in the United States and Europe within the next few months based on data from this and another pivotal phase III trial.
A recent report on trends in retail prices, called usual and customary (U&C) prices, from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that prescription drug prices increased at a faster rate than costs for other medical goods and services.
Trastuzumab (Herceptin) has greatly improved survival odds for women with HER2-positive breast cancer, but treatment resistance remains a problem for at least 50% of patients. A new study by a team of researchers with University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center indicates that the novel agent saracatinib might offer a solution. Saracatinib inhibits SRC, a proto-oncogene.
This week Hospira, Inc (Lake Forest, Ill) announced approval by the US Food and Drug Administration for docetaxel, a generic form of Sanofi Aventis’s drug Taxotere. The drug is already available in Europe and Australia and will be the first generic version available in the United States.
Patients with lung cancer who received daily fish oil supplements experienced greater tumor shrinkage during chemotherapy and longer overall survival (OS) and were less likely to lose weight than patients taking placebo. The study was led by Vera Mazurak, PhD, an expert in nutrition and metabolism with the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional science at the University of Alberta in Canada.
A retrospective analysis of Medicare claims for women with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) found that only 39% of patients received optimal therapy as outlined by national treatment guidelines. Data were presented at a plenary session at the annual meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, taking place in Orlando this week. Discussant Michael Carney, MD, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, described the report as "disappointing, shocking, and sad."
Every physician has a preferred way of writing prescription instructions, and pharmacists differ in how they translate those instructions to the pill bottle. A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine by Wolf and associates found that the lack of a universal medication schedule (UMS) to standardize how prescriptions are written and filled contributes to poor patient adherence and increases safety concerns. Read More ›