Cetuximab News and Research

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Cetuximab is an investigational IgG1 monoclonal antibody designed to target and block the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), which is expressed on the surface of certain cancer cells in multiple tumor types. Cetuximab is designed to bind to EGFR and prevent natural ligands called growth factors from binding to the receptor and inducing phosphorylation, i.e., activation of signaling to the tumor. The most common drug-related adverse events reported in clinical trials of cetuximab have been an acne-like rash and asthenia. Severe allergic reactions may occur in a small percentage of patients.

Personalized rectal cancer therapy shows promise

Personalized chemotherapy for rectal cancer results in high rates of pathologic response, indicate the results of a pilot study.

19 Dec 2012

Sterotactic radiotherapy offers good results in recurrent head and neck cancer

For patients with recurring head and neck cancer, stereotactic body radiotherapy offers a feasible and tolerable salvage treatment, with median overall survival rates of more than 1 year, report researchers.

30 Aug 2012

FDA approves KRAS gene mutation test for colorectal cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first genetic test that can help some colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and their doctors determine if the drug Erbitux (cetuximab) would be an effective treatment based on the absence of a gene mutation. The therascreen KRAS RGQ PCR Kit can provide information about the KRAS gene mutation in patients whose CRC has spread to other parts of their body (metastasized).

7 Jul 2012

Study details canonical Wnt signaling pathway

Many lung cancers are driven by mutations in the epidermal growth-factor receptor (EGFR), and so it makes sense that many successful modern treatments block EGFR activity. Unfortunately, cancers inevitably evolve around EGFR inhibition, and patients with lung cancers eventually relapse.

30 Jun 2012

BEAMing DNA blood testing technology detects drug resistance in colorectal cancer patients early

Two studies published back-to-back in last week's Nature applied DNA blood testing using the BEAMing technology to detect drug resistance mediated by KRAS mutations in colorectal cancer patients months before treatment failure was observed.

18 Jun 2012

Jennerex announces data from JX-594 clinical studies on cancer

Jennerex, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class targeted oncolytic virus products for cancer, today announced that data relating to the company's oncolytic virus therapy for cancer was featured in three separate abstracts during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting currently taking place in Chicago, Illinois.

5 Jun 2012

Oncothyreon announces data from two clinical trials of PX-866 at ASCO meeting

Oncothyreon Inc. today announced that data from two clinical trials of PX-866, a pan-isoform phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI-3K) inhibitor, were presented today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago.

4 Jun 2012

Study reveals why GBM is highly resistant to current chemotherapies

New research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison explains why the incurable brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is highly resistant to current chemotherapies.

2 Jun 2012

Montefiore experts available to discuss cancer research at 2012 ASCO meeting

Bringing together international experts with the latest technologies and pioneering research, Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute-designated Albert Einstein Cancer Center, advances the front lines of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of rare and common cancers.

2 Jun 2012

Oncothyreon commences PX-866 and vemurafenib Phase 1/2 combination trial for melanoma

Oncothyreon Inc. today announced the initiation of a Phase 1/2 trial of PX-866 in combination with vemurafenib.

1 Jun 2012

ARI-4175 drug may treat colorectal cancer patients with KRAS mutation

When combined with other treatments, the drug cetuximab-which works by slowing or stopping the growth of cancer cells-has been shown to extend survival in certain types of cancer, including metastatic colorectal cancers. Unfortunately, about 40 percent of colorectal cancer patients-specifically those who carry a mutated form of a gene called KRAS-do not respond to the drug. Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, however, have been working on a way to overcome this resistance to cetuximab by unleashing a second cetuximab driven mechanism using a novel drug called ARI-4175.

5 Apr 2012

Aurora-A protein plays an important role in head and neck cancer

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia have found that a protein associated with other cancers appears to also be important in head and neck cancer, and may consequently serve as a good target for new treatments. The findings will be reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 on Sunday, April 1.

2 Apr 2012

Jennerex initiates JX-594 plus irinotecan Phase 1/2 trial in metastatic colorectal cancer

Jennerex, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class targeted oncolytic virus products for cancer, today announced that the first patient has been treated in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of JX-594 in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have become refractory to chemotherapy and are either refractory to or ineligible for cetuximab.

20 Mar 2012

Researchers test nanoscale carbon clusters for cancer chemotherapy

A mixture of current drugs and carbon nanoparticles shows potential to enhance treatment for head-and-neck cancers, especially when combined with radiation therapy, according to new research by Rice University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

16 Feb 2012

Merck Serono enters development agreement with Threshold for hypoxia-targeted drug

Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, today announced that a global agreement was signed with Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc., South San Francisco, to co-develop and commercialize TH-302, Threshold's small molecule hypoxia-targeted drug.

3 Feb 2012

Boehringer Ingelheim initiates two afatinib phase III trials in head and neck cancer

Boehringer Ingelheim announced today the initiation of two phase III clinical trials, LUX-Head & Neck 1 and LUX-Head & Neck 2. These trials evaluate afatinib in patients with metastatic and recurrent head and neck cancer, and in patients with locally advanced disease, respectively.

27 Jan 2012

Study describes new pharmacological resistance to colon cancer

Doctors and researchers of Hospital del Mar and its research institute, the IMIM, have lead a study describing a new pharmacological resistance to cancer. This new mechanism is a mutation in an oncogene called EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) causing resistance to treatment using a drug called cetuximab, a monoclonal antibody which specifically attacks the EGFR.

23 Jan 2012

Erlotinib better for treatment of non-small cell lung cancers

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that DNA changes in a gene that drives the growth of a form of lung cancer can make the cancer's cells resistant to cancer drugs.

11 Jan 2012

Pretreatment fasting glucose could block breast cancer progression

An increasing understanding of molecular pathways that regulate breast and colorectal cancer development and progression has produced new therapeutic agents, including the biologic agents trastuzumab, bevacizumab, and cetuximab. Identifying the indicators that are likely to predict which patients will achieve the best response to these agents represents a major challenge for contemporary oncologists.

7 Dec 2011

AVEO, Boehringer Ingelheim enter development and manufacturing agreement for ficlatuzumab

AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Boehringer Ingelheim today announced that they have entered into an agreement for large-scale process development and clinical manufacturing of ficlatuzumab, AVEO's novel HGF inhibitory antibody that is currently in Phase 2 clinical development in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

2 Dec 2011