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ORLANDO, FL— The news was promising regarding several drugs for the treatment of prostate cancer at the recent ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium held February 17-19, 2011 An extension-phase study of degeralix, approved by the FDA in 2008, confirmed the efficacy of this drug versus leuprolide. Other positive studies focused on drugs in various stages of development, including abiraterone, cabozantinib, and MDV3100.
Degarelix (Firmagon, Ferring)
Read More ›The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to hold a two-day hearing to give Genentech an opportunity to convince the agency not to revoke Avastin's (bevacizumab's) indication in breast cancer. Controversy raged among patients, medical professionals, and politicians from the moment the FDA announced last year that it was considering withdrawing its approval of Avastin to treat metastatic breast cancer.
In a randomized trial of patients with cancer and vertebral compression fractures (VCFs), balloon kyphoplasty was associated with greater pain relief and better of quality of life than nonsurgical care. According to the authors, patients who received kyphoplasty relied significantly less on pain medication, bed rest, and walking assistance 1 month after the procedure.
The FDA has agreed to fast-track its review of Pfizer's New Drug Application for crizotinib, an investigational small molecular inhibitor for patients with advanced lung cancer who test positive for the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) translocation. According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 2% to 7% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have a chromosomal rearrangement involving the ALK gene (most often, an EML4-ALK translocation). This accounts for approximately 10,000 cases annually in the United States.
Read More ›The FDA held a public meeting on Tuesday to assess whether stricter criteria are needed when considering oncology drugs for accelerated approval. Measures enacted in 1992 allow the FDA to grant accelerated approval for drugs targeted at unmet needs in cancer based solely on data from single-arm studies and relying on endpoints other than the standard metric of overall survival. Read More ›
On Friday, the FDA approved Mobile MIM, an application that allows physicians to view radiology images using an iPhone or an iPad. Mobile MIM can display computed tomography scans, MRIs, and images created with positron emission tomography with sufficient quality in most cases to make diagnostic decisions. Read More ›
Patients can instantly save up to $200 off their copay with each prescription for PediatRx’s Granisol, the only FDA-approved ready-to-use liquid solution of granisetron. This new copay assistance program also leverages technology to initiate prior approval if a patient’s insurance requires it.
Iniparib Fails to Achieve Significant Survival Increases in Metastatic Triple-negative Breast Cancer
Adding iniparib to a regimen of gemcitabine and carboplatin failed to significantly increase overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, according to sanofi-aventis, the agent’s developer along with BiPar Sciences.
Upon metabolism. curcumin undergoes a transformation, either through autoxidation or COX2 catalyzation, creating a quinone methide, according to new pathways proposed by researchers at Vanderbilt University. This reaction, which creates quinone methide, may contribute to curcurmin’s chemopreventive activity.