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.
Agenus Inc., announced final results from a single-arm, multi-institutional, open-label, Phase 2 study showing that patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) who received Agenus' Prophage autologous cancer vaccine added to the standard of care treatment, lived nearly twice as long as expected.
Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced results from a global, investigational Phase 3 study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of EMEND (aprepitant) in the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in pediatric cancer patients, aged 6 months to 17 years.
The new combination agent TAS-102 is able to improve overall survival compared to placebo in patients whose metastatic colorectal cancer is refractory to standard therapies, researchers said at the ESMO 16th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona.
For patients with KRAS wild-type untreated colorectal cancer, adding cetuximab or bevacizumab to combination chemotherapy offers equivalent survival, researchers said at the ESMO 16th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona.
Adding the novel MM-398 to standard treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancer patients who have already received gemcitabine improves survival, researchers said at the ESMO 16th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona.
A clinical trial conducted by researchers at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center Clinical Trials, a partnership between Scottsdale Healthcare and the Translational Genomics Research Institute, showed that a new drug called MM-398, given in combination with 5-flourouracil (5FU) and leucovorin, produced a significant overall survival rate in patients with advanced, previously-treated pancreatic cancer.
In an aggressive disease known for poor response rates, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found patients with advanced colorectal cancer responded well to a combination therapy of the drugs vermurafenib, cetuximab and irinotecan.
Amgen today announced results from the Phase 2 PEAK study that reinforce the improved overall survival (OS) benefit of panitumumab (Vectibix®) when used in combination with FOLFOX, an oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy regimen, compared to bevacizumab (Avastin) plus FOLFOX as first-line treatment in patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).
Patients with chemotherapy-refractory small-cell lung cancer may benefit from treatment with the topoisomerase II inhibitor amrubicin, research from Japan suggests.
Kinex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for Oratecan, an oral form of an approved anti-cancer drug irinotecan with enhanced oral absorption.
Irinotecan plus cisplatin remains the gold standard for Japanese patients with extensive small-cell lung cancer, say researchers, after amrubicin plus cisplatin failed to improve survival in their randomised phase III trial.
Dr. Daniel D. Von Hoff, who has been instrumental in developing numerous new cancer treatments, is among this year's recipients of the Award of Excellence from the Hope Funds for Cancer Research.
In association with its 50th anniversary, the American Society of Clinical Oncology has named Dr. Daniel D. Von Hoff one of ASCO's 50 Oncology Luminaries, celebrating 50 doctors who over the past half-century have significantly advanced cancer care.
Bayer HealthCare today announced that the company has begun to enroll patients in the COAST trial studying Stivarga® (regorafenib) tablets in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with resected liver metastases.
NYU Langone Medical Center researchers have found a biological weakness in the workings of the most commonly mutated gene involved in human cancers, known as mutant K-Ras, which they say can be exploited by drug chemotherapies to thwart tumor growth.
Etoposide plus cisplatin, given alongside accelerated hyperfractionated thoracic radiotherapy, remains the gold standard regimen for patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer, Japanese researchers say.
Agenus Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel immune system activating treatments for cancers and infectious diseases, announced that Phase 2 results of Prophage G-200 vaccine in recurrent patients with glioblastoma multiforme were hailed as 'exciting' and a 'very promising therapy' in an editorial published in Neuro-Oncology, the leading journal of the Society of Neuro-Oncology.
A team led by Fengzhi Li, PhD, of Roswell Park Cancer Institute has reported significant new findings regarding the chemical structure of the novel anticancer agent FL118. The research, which included comparative analysis of the agent and several similar compounds, confirms the broad, superior antitumor activity of FL118 and suggests promising directions for further studies.
Merck Serono, the biopharmaceutical division of Merck, today announced that the European Commission has approved the Type II variation to amend the Erbitux(cetuximab) product information, updating the indication for Erbitux to the treatment of patients with RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).
Agenus Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel immune system activating treatments for cancers and infectious diseases, today announced results published from a Phase 2 study demonstrated that more than 90% of the patients treated with Prophage Series G-200 were alive at six months after surgery and 30% were alive at twelve months.