Erlotinib News and Research

RSS

Erlotinib is a drug used to treat certain types of non-small cell lung cancer. It is also used together with gemcitabine to treat pancreatic cancer and is being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer. Erlotinib is a type of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Also called CP-358,774, erlotinib hydrochloride, OSI-774, and Tarceva.

Drug combo improves outcome for advanced non-small cell lung cancer

A new, international study found that the combination of two drugs delays disease progression for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

1 Jun 2009

Cancer drugs erlotinib and gefitinib might treat alcoholism

A class of drugs already approved as cancer treatments might also help to beat alcohol addiction. That's the conclusion of a discovery in flies of a gene, dubbed happyhour, that has an important and previously unknown role in controlling the insects' response to alcohol.

22 May 2009

Newly discovered epidermal growth factor receptor active in human pancreatic cancers

Finally some promising news about pancreatic cancer, one of the most fatal cancers, due to the difficulties of early detection and the lack of effective therapies: Johns Hopkins University pathologist Akhilesh Pandey has identified an epidermal growth factor receptor aberrantly active in approximately a third of the 250 human pancreatic cancers studied.

20 Apr 2009

Neurokinin 1 receptor may prove useful in treating deadly brain tumors

Duke University researchers have identified a receptor on the surface of cells that may give them another avenue of attack against glioblastoma, the most common and most deadly type of brain cancer.

5 Apr 2009

Mylan confirms four first-to-file challenges

Mylan Inc. has announced that it and/or a subsidiary have been sued in connection with four separate "first-to-file" Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDA) filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

29 Mar 2009

EGFR inhibitors show promise for obesity

Once-promising drugs that were abandoned in the fight against breast cancer still could be effective in obese patients, new research suggests.

1 Dec 2008

Gefitinib just as effective as chemotherapy for lung cancer

Gefitinib, also known as Iressa, the once-promising targeted therapy for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, has proven as effective as chemotherapy as a second-line therapy for the disease with far fewer side effects, according to an international Phase III clinical trial, led by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

20 Nov 2008

Advanced lung cancer patients see improved, progression-free survival

Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer whose disease has progressed following chemotherapy have a higher rate of tumor shrinkage and a longer interval before cancer progression when bevacizumab is added to standard second-line erlotinib therapy, according to a study presented at the 2008 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology, sponsored by ASTRO, ASCO, IASLC and the University of Chicago.

16 Nov 2008

Significant benefits in non-small-cell lung cancer from customizing erlotinib treatment

Lung cancer patients whose tumors carry specific genetic mutations can achieve significantly longer survival when treated with targeted therapies such as erlotinib, Spanish researchers report.

15 Sep 2008

Circulating tumor cells can reveal genetic signature of dangerous lung cancers

Using a miniature laboratory-on-a-chip device, a team of investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital, led by Daniel Haber, M.D., Ph.D., and Mehmet Toner, Ph.D., both members of the MIT-Harvard Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE), has developed a method that detects and analyzes the genetic signature of rare tumor cells in the bloodstream.

9 Jul 2008

Targeted therapy can improve outcomes for lung tumors

The first U.S. clinical trial using genetic screening to identify lung tumors likely to respond to targeted therapies supports the use of those drugs as first-line treatment rather than after standard chemotherapy has failed.

20 May 2008

Cancer Research UK and AstraZeneca announce innovative deal for promising anti-cancer compound

Cancer Research UK and Cancer Research Technology (CRT) - the charity's development and commercialisation arm - today announced an innovative new arrangement to progress into clinical development a potential anti-cancer compound from AstraZeneca.

19 May 2008

Two new clinical trials show promise for basal cell carcinoma and pancreatic cancer

Clinical researchers at Scottsdale Healthcare and TGen have announced the results of two clinical trials that show promise for patients battling cancer.

16 Apr 2008

Biomarkers allow doctors to match therapy to patient

Genetic variations ensure that no two people are exactly alike, nor are their cancers.

13 Apr 2008

AstraZeneca completes enrollment in phase III studies of cancer drug vandetanib

AstraZeneca has announced that it has completed patient enrollment in two pivotal Phase III studies for vandetanib, the company's investigational, once-daily oral anti-cancer drug, for the second-line treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

13 Mar 2008

Combination targets offer new hope in fight against cancer

While some targeted therapies - drugs developed to attack specific molecules in the critical chemical pathways occurring within cancer cells - work well by themselves, increasingly researchers are finding that they work better when teamed with other targeted and conventional therapies.

24 Oct 2007

Study suggests brain tumors need treatment with multiple 'targeted' drugs

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have shown that several, rather than just one, cell-growth switches are simultaneously overactive in many brain tumors and other solid tumors, explaining why treatment with just a single "targeted" switch-blocking drug often yields disappointing results.

13 Sep 2007

Lung cancer patients taking Tarceva who develop a rash fair better

The appearance of a rash in cancer patients treated with erlotinib (Tarceva) is strongly associated with longer survival, according to researchers from the drug's developer, OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

4 Jul 2007

Skin rash actually signifies better outcomes for pancreatic and lung cancer patients

The appearance of a rash in cancer patients treated with erlotinib (Tarceva) is strongly associated with longer survival, according to researchers from the drug's developer, OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

3 Jul 2007

Guidelines on skin reactions to Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitors (EGFRIs)

Skin reactions to a powerful new class of anti-cancer drugs are frequent, but manageable through a simple and rational treatment approach , usually without the need to reduce the dose or interrupt treatment with potentially life-prolonging chemotherapy, according to an article in the May issue of "The Oncologist."

24 May 2007