Irinotecan News and Research

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Irinotecan hydrochloride is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be used with other drugs to treat colorectal cancer that has metastasized (spread to other parts of the body). It is also approved to treat metastatic colorectal cancer that has recurred (come back) or gotten worse after earlier chemotherapy. In addition to the uses that have been approved by the FDA, irinotecan hydrochloride is sometimes used to treat other types of cancer. Irinotecan hydrochloride is also being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer.

Cetuximab improves survival and slows progression of colorectal cancer

Research presented at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research confirmed that there is now an effective treatment option for colorectal cancer patients for whom all other treatment options have been exhausted, cetuximab.

17 Apr 2007

Avastin slows growth of gliomas

Avastin, a relatively new type of drug that shrinks cancerous tumors by cutting off their blood supply, can slow the growth of the most common and deadly form of brain cancer, a pilot study conducted at Duke University Medical Center has found.

20 Feb 2007

Dendrimer-encapsulated camptothecins

With an eye toward developing a delivery vehicle for anticancer agents that are poorly soluble in water, a research team at Boston University and the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) has developed a biocompatible dendrimer that wraps itself around water-insoluble drugs.

8 Jan 2007

Markey Cancer Center receives approval to test cancer drug DB-67

Tom Burke died of colon cancer only a few years ago, but not before he helped create a new drug to fight cancer.

8 Jun 2006

Chemotherapy regimen predicts steatohepatitis and an increase in 90-day mortality after surgery for hepatic colorectal metastases

Patients and their physicians should be careful when selecting a chemotherapy drug to treat colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

3 May 2006

Tumour specific drugs may render therapies based on a tumor's anatomical location obsolete

The results of a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis could eventually have oncologists removing their specialties from their shingles by making therapy based on a tumor's anatomical location obsolete.

28 Apr 2006

Studying the gene-expression profiles of patients with colorectal cancer might help predict their response to chemotherapy

Studying the gene-expression profiles of patients with colorectal cancer might help predict their response to chemotherapy.

15 Mar 2006

FDA gives greenlight for new treatment of head and neck cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved colon cancer drug Erbitux to treat head and neck cancer after results of a large clinical trial showed the drug prolonged survival by 20 months.

5 Mar 2006

Hepatic arterial infusion versus systemic therapy for hepatic metastases from colorectal cancer

A new study shows that patients whose colorectal cancer has spread to the liver who received an approach called hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) - the administration of chemotherapy directly to the liver through a pump in the abdomen - fare better than those who received traditional, intravenous chemotherapy.

1 Mar 2006

Expert highlights public health problem posed by colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is a significant public health problem for which differing treatment regimes hold different benefits in associated efficacy, safety and tolerability, according to study findings showcased at the 13th European Cancer Conference (ECCO).

3 Nov 2005

Interferon selectively kills colon cancer cells when combined with irinotecan chemotherapy agent

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists have found that interferon, used for 30 years to treat blood cancers, multiple sclerosis and hepatitis, selectively kills colon cancer cells when combined with another standard chemotherapy agent.

16 Aug 2005

Chemotherapy options improve for patients with advanced colorectal cancer

For the first time, researchers have shown that a chemotherapy regimen of capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (CAPOX) is as safe and effective as infusional 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid plus oxaliplatin (FUFOX) in the first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal carcinoma (MCRC).

6 Jun 2005

Cetuximab (Erbitux) can battle cancer and prolong life in many patients with advanced colorectal cancer

"Even in people who have gone through six or more previous courses of chemotherapy, cetuximab, may fight the growth of cancer, giving patients additional months of life," says study presenter Heinz-Josef Lenz, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

20 May 2005

New cancer drug Avastin keeps cancer under control

Data published for the first time today in the leading Journal of Clinical Oncology showed that the unique new cancer drug Avastin keeps cancer under control for a significantly longer duration, even when used in a group of elderly patients with advanced colorectal cancer who are too sick to tolerate traditional aggressive chemotherapy.

1 Mar 2005

Avastin available across Europe within the next few weeks

Roche has announced that the European Commission has approved Avastin (bevacizumab, rhuMAb-VEGF), the new innovative anti-angiogenesis drug, for the treatment of patients with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer.

16 Jan 2005

Avastin plus Folfox4 chemotherapy significantly extends survival in second-line metastatic colorectal cancer

Genentech and Roche today announced that a randomized Phase III study of Avastin™ (bevacizumab) plus the FOLFOX4 chemotherapy regimen (oxaliplatin/5-FU/leucovorin), compared to FOLFOX4 alone, in second-line metastatic colorectal cancer patients achieved its primary endpoint of improving overall survival.

29 Nov 2004

Acne-like rash linked to effectiveness of new targeted cancer treatment – cetuximab

Acne is not a condition that anyone would welcome under normal circumstances, but an international study of a new targeted cancer treatment – cetuximab – has shown that patients who developed an acne-like rash responded better to the treatment than those who did not.

30 Sep 2004

Erbitux (cetuximab) combined with irinotecan offers another option for patients who have colorectal cancer

Erbitux (cetuximab), offers another option for patients who have colorectal cancer that resists standard chemotherapy treatment, according to an article written by two Mayo Clinic cancer researchers published in the current edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

21 Jul 2004

Drug helps patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

A drug designed to cut off a tumor’s blood supply, when paired with a chemotherapy combination, resulted in significant improvement in survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the first time in decades that survival times have been extended in patients with this devastating form of advanced cancer.

3 Jun 2004

Drug to extend lives of colorectal cancer patients

A drug designed to cut off a tumor's blood supply, when paired with a chemotherapy combination, resulted in significant improvement in survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the first time in decades that survival times have been extended in patients with this devastating form of advanced cancer.

2 Jun 2004